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Since 1982 the League Cup has been named after its sponsor, giving it the following names:
The League Cup is less prestigious than the FA Cup and when it was sponsored by Worthington, it was dubbed the Worthless Cup. It is fairly common for larger clubs to field a reserve or youth team unless they make it into the later stages.
This is only used when the number of teams in European competition affects the number of byes to the third round and it would not be easier to give a club a bye to the second round. The match(es) involve the eligible clubs who finished lowest in the English football league system last season (normally clubs promoted from Conference National).
The ties are single matches, with extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the next round.
All clubs playing in The Football League (the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League Two), unless they are competiting in the Champions League or UEFA Cup, enter at this stage and join any Preliminary Round winners. Sometimes (depending on the number of clubs competiting in Europe, whether or not they play in The Football League and whether a preliminary round would be an easier way to even up the numbers) it is necessary to give one or more clubs a bye to the second round. The clubs would be those eligible to compete in the First Round who finished highest in the English football league system last season (normally clubs relegated from the FA Premier League).
For this round, the clubs are divided in northern and southern sections (though not always equally, so there could be more clubs in one section than another). Half of the clubs from each section are seeded and half are not. First a draw is made to determine whether the seeded club is to play at home or away, and then the club is drawn against an unseeded club from their section.
The ties are single matches, with extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the next round.
All clubs playing in the FA Premier League, unless they are competing in the Champions League or UEFA Cup, as well as any clubs that may have been given a bye to this round, enter at this stage and join the First Round winners.
The ties are single matches, with extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the next round.
All clubs competing in the Champions League or UEFA Cup enter at this stage and join the Second Round winners (making for a total of sixteen clubs).
The ties are single matches, with extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary, with the winners progressing to the next round.