# 1965–66 Football League Cup

The 1965–66 Football League Cup was the sixth season of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs; only 83 of them competed. The competition ended with the two-legged final on 9 and 23 March 1966.
Match dates and results were initially drawn from Soccerbase, and they were later checked against Rothmans Football Yearbook 1970–71.

## Calendar

Of the 83 teams, 45 received a bye to the second round and the other 38 played in the first round; these were the teams ranked 55th–92nd in the 1964–65 Football League. Semi-finals and final were two-legged.
| Round | Main date | Fixtures | Fixtures | Clubs | New entries this round |
| Round | Main date | Original | Replays | Clubs | New entries this round |
| First Round | 1 September 1965 | 19 | 9 | 83 → 64 | 38 (teams ranked 11th–24th in Third Division; all Fourth Division) |
| Second Round | 22 September 1965 | 32 | 4 | 64 → 32 | 45 (all First and Second Division, except those teams that did not enter; teams ranked 1st–10th in Third Division) |
| Third Round | 13 October 1965 | 16 | 4 | 32 → 16 | none |
| Fourth Round | 3 November 1965 | 8 | 3 | 16 → 8 | none |
| Fifth Round | 17 November 1965 | 4 | 1 | 8 → 4 | none |
| Semi-finals | December 1965 – February 1966 | 4 | 0 | 4 → 2 | none |
| Final | 9 & 23 March 1966 | 2 | 0 | 2 → 1 | none |

## First round
### Ties

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Barrow | 1–1 | Rochdale | 1 September 1965 |
| Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 0–0 | Aldershot | 1 September 1965 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | 1–0 | Halifax Town | 1 September 1965 |
| Colchester United | 2–1 | Exeter City | 1 September 1965 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 2–0 | Southport | 1 September 1965 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 2–2 | Barnsley | 1 September 1965 |
| Hartlepools United | 1–0 | Bradford City | 1 September 1965 |
| Luton Town | 1–1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1 September 1965 |
| Lincoln City | 2–2 | York City | 1 September 1965 |
| Newport County | 2–2 | Southend United | 1 September 1965 |
| Notts County | 0–0 | Chesterfield | 1 September 1965 |
| Oldham Athletic | 3–2 | Tranmere Rovers | 1 September 1965 |
| Oxford United | 0–1 | Millwall | 1 September 1965 |
| Port Vale | 2–2 | Reading | 1 September 1965 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 1–1 | Walsall | 1 September 1965 |
| Scunthorpe United | 0–2 | Darlington | 1 September 1965 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 3–0 | Torquay United | 1 September 1965 |
| Stockport County | 2–3 | Workington | 1 September 1965 |
| Wrexham | 5–2 | Chester | 1 September 1965 |

### Replays

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Aldershot | 2–1 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 8 September 1965 |
| Barnsley | 1–2 | Doncaster Rovers | 7 September 1965 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2–0 | Luton Town | 7 September 1965 |
| Chesterfield | 2–1 | Notts County | 8 September 1965 |
| Reading | 1–0 | Port Vale | 8 September 1965 |
| Rochdale | 3–1 | Barrow | 8 September 1965 |
| Southend United | 3–1 | Newport County | 6 September 1965 |
| Walsall | 3–2 | Queens Park Rangers | 7 September 1965 |
| York City | 4–2 | Lincoln City | 7 September 1965 |

## Second round
### Ties

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Blackburn Rovers | 0–1 | Northampton Town | 21 September 1965 |
| Blackpool | 5–2 | Gillingham | 22 September 1965 |
| Bolton Wanderers | 3–0 | Aldershot | 22 September 1965 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 1–2 | Ipswich Town | 21 September 1965 |
| Bristol Rovers | 3–3 | West Ham United | 21 September 1965 |
| Bury | 0–2 | Huddersfield Town | 21 September 1965 |
| Charlton Athletic | 4–1 | Carlisle United | 21 September 1965 |
| Chesterfield | 3–0 | Bradford Park Avenue | 22 September 1965 |
| Colchester United | 2–4 | Middlesbrough | 22 September 1965 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1–1 | Cardiff City | 22 September 1965 |
| Crystal Palace | 0–1 | Grimsby Town | 22 September 1965 |
| Darlington | 2–1 | Swindon Town | 22 September 1965 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 0–4 | Burnley | 22 September 1965 |
| Hull City | 2–2 | Derby County | 22 September 1965 |
| Leeds United | 4–2 | Hartlepool United | 22 September 1965 |
| Leyton Orient | 0–3 | Coventry City | 22 September 1965 |
| Manchester City | 3–1 | Leicester City | 22 September 1965 |
| Mansfield Town | 2–1 | Birmingham City | 22 September 1965 |
| Millwall | 4–1 | York City | 22 September 1965 |
| Newcastle United | 3–4 | Peterborough United | 22 September 1965 |
| Oldham Athletic | 1–2 | Portsmouth | 22 September 1965 |
| Preston North End | 1–0 | Plymouth Argyle | 22 September 1965 |
| Reading | 5–1 | Southend United | 22 September 1965 |
| Rotherham United | 2–0 | Watford | 22 September 1965 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 1–0 | Bristol City | 22 September 1965 |
| Southampton | 3–0 | Rochdale | 22 September 1965 |
| Stoke City | 2–1 | Norwich City | 22 September 1965 |
| Sunderland | 2–1 | Sheffield United | 22 September 1965 |
| Swansea Town | 2–3 | Aston Villa | 21 September 1965 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 3–1 | Walsall | 22 September 1965 |
| Workington | 0–0 | Brentford | 22 September 1965 |
| Wrexham | 1–2 | Fulham | 22 September 1965 |

### Replays

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Brentford | 1–2 | Workington | 30 September 1965 |
| Cardiff City | 3–0 | Crewe Alexandra | 29 September 1965 |
| Derby County | 4–3 | Hull City | 29 September 1965 |
| West Ham United | 3–2 | Bristol Rovers | 29 September 1965 |

## Third round
### Ties

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Blackpool | 1–2 | Darlington | 13 October 1965 |
| Burnley | 3–2 | Southampton | 13 October 1965 |
| Cardiff City | 2–0 | Portsmouth | 13 October 1965 |
| Chesterfield | 2–2 | Stoke City | 13 October 1965 |
| Derby County | 1–1 | Reading | 13 October 1965 |
| Fulham | 5–0 | Northampton Town | 13 October 1965 |
| Grimsby Town | 4–2 | Bolton Wanderers | 13 October 1965 |
| Huddersfield Town | 0–1 | Preston North End | 13 October 1965 |
| Leeds United | 2–4 | West Bromwich Albion | 13 October 1965 |
| Manchester City | 2–3 | Coventry City | 13 October 1965 |
| Middlesbrough | 0–0 | Millwall | 13 October 1965 |
| Peterborough United | 4–3 | Charlton Athletic | 13 October 1965 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 2–5 | Rotherham United | 13 October 1965 |
| Sunderland | 1–2 | Aston Villa | 13 October 1965 |
| West Ham United | 4–0 | Mansfield Town | 13 October 1965 |
| Workington | 1–1 | Ipswich Town | 13 October 1965 |

### Replays

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Ipswich Town | 3–1 | Workington | 20 October 1965 |
| Millwall | 3–1 | Middlesbrough | 18 October 1965 |
| Reading | 2–0 | Derby County | 20 October 1965 |
| Stoke City | 2–1 | Chesterfield | 20 October 1965 |

## Fourth round
### Ties

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Cardiff City | 5–1 | Reading | 3 November 1965 |
| Coventry City | 1–1 | West Bromwich Albion | 3 November 1965 |
| Fulham | 1–1 | Aston Villa | 3 November 1965 |
| Grimsby Town | 4–0 | Preston North End | 3 November 1965 |
| Ipswich Town | 2–0 | Darlington | 3 November 1965 |
| Millwall | 1–4 | Peterborough United | 3 November 1965 |
| Rotherham United | 1–2 | West Ham United | 3 November 1965 |
| Stoke City | 0–0 | Burnley | 3 November 1965 |

### Replays

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Aston Villa | 2–0 | Fulham | 8 November 1965 |
| Burnley | 2–1 | Stoke City | 9 November 1965 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 6–1 | Coventry City | 10 November 1965 |

## Fifth round
### Ties

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| Cardiff City | 2–1 | Ipswich Town | 17 November 1965 |
| Grimsby Town | 2–2 | West Ham United | 17 November 1965 |
| Peterborough United | 4–0 | Burnley | 17 November 1965 |
| West Bromwich Albion | 3–1 | Aston Villa | 17 November 1965 |

### Replays

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| West Ham United | 1–0 | Grimsby Town | 15 December 1965 |

## Semi-finals
### First leg

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date |
| West Bromwich Albion | 2–1 | Peterborough United | 1 December 1965 |
| West Ham United | 5–2 | Cardiff City | 20 December 1965 |

### Second leg

| Home Team | Score | Away Team | Date | Agg |
| Cardiff City | 1–5 | West Ham United | 2 February 1966 | 3–10 |
| Peterborough United | 2–4 | West Bromwich Albion | 15 December 1965 | 3–6 |

## Final

West Ham United: Standen, Burnett, Burkett, Peters, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Dear
West Bromwich Albion: Potter, Cram, Fairfax, Fraser, Campbell, Williams, Brown, Astle, Kaye, Lovett, Clark
West Bromwich Albion: Potter, Cram, Fairfax, Fraser, Campbell, Williams, Brown, Astle, Kaye, Hope, Clark
West Ham United: Standen, Burnett, Peters, Bovington, Brown, Moore, Brabrook, Boyce, Byrne, Hurst, Sissons
West Bromwich Albion win 5–3 on aggregate.