Newcastle United player Alexander Isak celebrates with the trophy after the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025 in London, England.placeholder image
Newcastle United player Alexander Isak celebrates with the trophy after the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025 in London, England. | Getty Images
The EFL have confirmed shirt changes for Newcastle United and 23 other clubs in next season’s Carabao Cup.
Following suit from the Champions League, the Carabao Cup has introduced competition sleeve badges to recognise previous winners of the competition.
Newcastle will wear the default Champions League sleeve badge next season while Liverpool will have the Champions League logo with a ‘6’ to recognise how many times the club has won the competition. Holders Paris Saint-Germain will have a special winners' sleeve badge with a ‘1’ on after winning the competition for the first time back in May.
A similar system will take place in the Carabao Cup with all 24 previous winners of the competition getting a specific badge based on how many times they have won the competition. Teams that have never won the competition will wear the default Carabao Cup sleeve badge that was worn by all teams last season.
Newcastle United get special Carabao Cup sleeve badge
To recognise their 2025 Carabao Cup success, Newcastle will wear a golden Carabao Cup sleeve badge in the 2025/26 competition with a ‘1’ on it as it was the club’s first time lifting the trophy.
Liverpool will have a sleeve badge with the traditional green colour scheme along with a ‘10’ as the competition’s most successful side. But it’s Newcastle who will be the first club in the competition’s history to sport a golden holder’s badge - it’s a small victory if nothing else!
Newcastle’s north east rivals Middlesbrough will have a ‘1’ on their sleeve having lifted the EFL Cup back in 2004 while Sunderland, having not won the competition previously, will wear the default badge.
West Bromwich Albion, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, Swindon Town, Stoke City, Oxford United, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City will also have a ‘1’ on their sleeve. Norwich City, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal will have a ‘2’.
Leicester City will have ‘3’, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest will have ‘4’, Aston Villa and Chelsea ‘5’, Manchester United ‘6’ and Manchester City ‘8’.
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Newcastle United handed Carabao Cup boost in 2025/26
After doing things the hard way to win the Carabao Cup last season, beating Nottingham Forest, AFC Wimbledon, Chelsea, Brentford, Arsenal and Liverpool on the way to ending a 70-year domestic trophy drought, Newcastle will be handed a boost in the competition this coming season, having qualified for Europe.
English teams competing in Europe get a bye to the third round (last-32) of the competition. Last season, controversial rules were introduced to favour the European clubs as in addition to the bye, they would also avoid drawing one another in the third round.
It was a rule change that saw all seven European sides reach the last-16 of the competition, having been handed favourable third round ties.
But it’s a rule Newcastle will benefit from this coming season as they look to retain their Carabao Cup crown. The Magpies are one of the top-performing sides in the Carabao Cup over the past few seasons having won the competition in 2024/25, reached the quarter-finals in 2023/24 and the final in 2022/23.
But now the club’s long trophy drought has ended, they will be looking to make a mark on the Champions League and Premier League this coming season.
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