When Liverpool won the League Cup four years in a row

Liverpool have the chance to win the League Cup for the first time in a decade when they face Chelsea at Wembley in the final on Sunday. For anyone growing up in the 1980s, the thought of Liverpool going 10 years without winning the League Cup would have been unthinkable, such was their dominance of the competition.

The club initially had a troubled relationship with the League Cup. Despite winning multiple league titles, FA Cups and European Cups in the 1960s and 1970s, success in the League Cup proved difficult to come by. After 20 seasons of the competition, a controversial defeat to Nottingham Forest in the 1978 final was the closest they had come to winning it. But you wait ages for one League Cup to come along and then four arrive at once.

Liverpool’s quest for their first League Cup did not get off to an ideal start. They entered the competition in the second round in the 1980-81 season and suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Bradford City in the first leg, with a late Bobby Campbell goal giving the Fourth Division side some hope before their trip to Anfield. But Kenny Dalglish returned for the second leg and scored twice as Liverpool won 4-1 on aggregate.

Comfortable wins at Anfield over third-tier Swindon Town and Portsmouth followed before Liverpool beat a determined Birmingham City side 3-1 – aided by a fine Ray Clemence display and superb Terry McDermott volley – to set up a semi-final against Manchester City. Kevin Reeves thought he had given City the lead in the first leg at Maine Road but the goal was controversially disallowed. Ray Kennedy grabbed a late winner as Liverpool returned to Anfield with the advantage. A nervy 1-1 draw in the return leg saw Liverpool limp to Wembley.

Second Division leaders West Ham