Source: Telegraph
The Carling Cup: a small competition with a big reputation for trouble
How long before the Carling Cup is renamed the Kicking-Off Cup?[LNB]The old maxim that no publicity is bad publicity would not have sat comfortably at Carling HQ following the shameful scenes that prompted teenage kiosk girls at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium to barricade themselves behind doors in order to save themselves from a rampant mob of Manchester United supporters.[LNB] Related ArticlesManchester United 'thugs' on rampageFA to investigate United crowd troubleWigan's Martínez slams Ferguson's 'loyalists' and FABarnsley 0 Manchester United 2Ferguson admits FA charge for Wiley commentsSport on televisionThe association with the League Cup might just be developing into something that Carling can quite happily do without. Nobody wants their name to be linked with violence, thuggery and hooliganism. Not even a lager producer.[LNB]English football has witnessed two major outbreaks of violence this season. The other was also in the Carling Cup, whose name was sullied by the 1970s-style violence that marred the West Ham-Millwall second round tie at Upton Park.[LNB]Through no fault of their own, Carling are becoming the victims of football's move away from its working-class roots towards a more gentrified constituency.[LNB]The kind of violence that has erupted at Upton Park and Oakwell has been absent from Premier League fixtures for years. Not since the 1980s have top flight games been marred by similar scenes.[LNB]Trouble-makers steer clear of Premier League games. They are too well policed and it is too difficult to locate tickets. League away-days are also viewed as monotonous and repetitive, whereas the Carling Cup can throw up trips to unfamiliar destinations small towns where the boys from the big city can run riot.[LNB]United supporters at Oakwell have remarked on the unfamiliar faces who were able to secure some of the 6,000 tickets allocated to the Old Trafford club. One middle-aged United regular talked of the visiting contingent being bolstered by 'loads of obnoxious scallies.' [LNB]Although the tickets were distributed via a ballot among members, winners are more likely to sell on a ticket for Barnsley than a sought-after pass for an away Premier League fixture.[LNB]The Carling Cup offers those supporters who have become frozen out of Premier League away days a rare opportunity to watch their team play. And lower league clubs are delighted to cash in on a tie against a well-supported club like United by offering an entire enclosure to the visitors, thereby attracting an away following much larger than for a typical fixture.[LNB]Parents can take their children to their first live game in the Carling Cup because tickets are generally much easier to purchase than those for league games.[LNB]But fixtures such as United's trip to Barnsley and West Ham's clash with Millwall also appeal to the more unruly element. Groups of young men can travel together, drink together and 'kick-off' together.[LNB]A long day at work, a short trip down the road, a bit of football and a bit of aggro.[LNB]It is the curse of the Carling Cup that it is viewed as the most accessible route to football for those on the fringes on and off the pitch.[LNB]A Carling spokesperson said: "Our sponsorships are intended to strengthen community, by bringing people together around a sociable event. It is very disappointing that a small minority of so called fans should spoil it for others." [LNB]
