When Round One of the 2025/26 Carabao Cup gets underway this evening with our trip to Coventry, Hatters fans can expect to see a subtle, but meaningful change to the Carabao Cup badge on the players' matchday kit in recognition of our previous success in the competition.
This season, as the English Football League (EFL) marks 65 years of the historic Cup competition, any club that has previously lifted the iconic trophy will wear a special sleeve badge that includes a nod to the number of times they have won the competition.
The new Carabao Cup sleeve badges are designed to celebrate past winners and to recognise the historic triumph of the competition’s reigning champions, Newcastle United, instilling an additional layer of pride and excitement for participating Clubs and their supporters.
Having won the then-named Littlewoods Cup in 1988 in one of the competition’s most unforgettable finals, our Carabao Cup sleeve will feature the number one, a symbol of the Club’s history in the competition that many fans will cherish.
In April 1988, in front of more than 95,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium, Town - managed by Ray Harford - beat defending champions Arsenal with a memorable penalty save by Andy Dibble that denied Nigel Winterburn a third Arsenal goal and gave the team the lift they needed to go on and win the game 3-2, Brian Stein netting the winner with his second goal of the game after Danny Wilson had brought us level.
We took the trophy, which sits proudly on display at Kenilworth Road, to the training ground ahead of the trip to Coventry for a special picture with captain Kal Naismith, fellow centre-back Mark McGuinness and our academy graduate, Zack Nelson, wearing the special shirts.
As last season’s champions, Newcastle United, who will join the Carabao Cup in Round Three, will wear the very first Carabao Cup gold badge, also sporting the number one in recognition of their 2024/25 Carabao Cup triumph and first domestic trophy in 70 years.
As the competition progresses, ten other Premier League clubs will also join the 13 EFL Clubs sporting a special numbered badge in Carabao’s familiar green that has become synonymous with the competition since Carabao become the Cup’s title partner in 2017.
