The women's league cup -- known as the Continental or Conti Cup -- returned this week to play out four postponed fixtures from the last round of the group stage, and there was little room for delay because the quarterfinals are due to take place next Wednesday/Thursday with only half of the last eight have been decided. It was the type of chaos we've come to expect from the often hectic cup competition, which began on Oct. 1 and is contested between all 24 teams in the FA Women's Super League and Women's Championship.
While we can muse about the "magic of the [FA] cup," there's something weird about the league cup -- a competition that spends most of its seasonal run off of the radar, confined to wintry midweek anonymity -- yet there is something joyous about the haze of the Conti, even when attendances range from 4,200 (Southampton vs. Reading) to 104 (Sheffield United vs. Aston Villa) during the early rounds.
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Ahead of the knockouts, let ESPN introduce you to England's forgotten cup competition, from its frequent finalists to minimal crowds that have been known to dribble down into double figures.
A unique selling point?
There is a collective look of confusion shared by those not familiar with the women's League Cup -- known as the Conti[nental] Cup for sponsorship reasons -- when you begin to explain the competition with "it starts in the group stage..."
To be fair, this isn't the response many would expect after admitting they didn't even realise there was a women's League Cup in England. The group stage itself could provide a sellable point of difference for the competition, but it's a clunky drawn-out process that has any number of teams in any number of groups. (Apologies for being vague, but because of the complications, the FA has repeatedly tried to retool and rework the group stage. Some seasons have seen three groups, while others there have been six.)
The groups themselves are rarely evenly divided, too. Initially, groups were intended to be broken down by regions, but the historically southern-heavy nature of the top two professional leagues has made for some wonky groups, including one edition where Durham were paired with Reading, which is some 270 miles away. (If you're English, that's a long journey.)
Even with smaller groups -- like in 2020-21, which had some as small as three teams -- there is still the need to fit in extra games before the turn of the year when the cup competition enters its knockout phase. This has meant that over the years, most of the games have been forced into midweek slots, thus heightening the need for more localized and regional matchups.
While this approach has helped clubs and their fans stay somewhat close to home, the quality of matches has unwittingly contributed to poor attendances and coverage. Worse still, the final used to be given an unappealing midweek evening slot, with few clubs keen to host a final that has rarely inspired the masses to attend.
More playing time
While fans and -- let's be honest -- the media have often struggled to be excited by the Conti Cup group stage, it has been welcomed by many players who are always itching for more playing time. As we've seen this season, teams like Manchester United have used the league cup to give minutes to bench and peripheral players, and it does remain a good competition in terms of meaningful time on the pitch.
However, there are issues with the midweek fixtures for those from the second tier who balance football with studies or work, as we saw a few years ago when Sheffield United were without several players who couldn't get the time off work. Indeed, there are a few stories of a similar nature each season, with some players barely making kick-off after driving directly to a game after a shift at work or some missing the coach altogether due to a too long away trip.