The League Cup (Thai: ไทยลีกคัพ) is a football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Hilux Revo Cup for sponsorship reasons.[1]
Thai League Cup was started by Toyota Motor (Thailand) in the name of Toyota Cup, the competition was held eight times between 1987 and 1994. Toyota Cup was canceled after establishing the 1996–97 Thailand Soccer League in the form of a professional league. As a result, the importance of the League Cup was diminished and the reason for its eventual cancellation.[2]
It was re-formed during the 2010 domestic football league season in Thailand and ran along the same lines as the Thai FA Cup except that the earlier rounds would be regional rather than an open draw.[3]
The League Cup competition in Thailand is said to be an opportunity for medium-sized teams to have the opportunity to compete with big teams and win prize money. The winning prize will receive a prize of 5,000,000 baht. The runner-up receives a prize of 1,000,000 baht and a travel allowance for all visiting teams from the qualifying round to the final rounds, 50,000 baht per team.[4]
Thai League Cup is open to all members of the Football Association of Thailand and Thai League 1 and is divided into eight rounds; the remaining Thai League teams enter the first round. Matches in all rounds are single-legged, except for the semi-finals, which have been two-legged since the competition began. In the single-legged top division, teams will play as away teams. The semi-finals were the exception to this when the away goals rule and penalties were introduced.
For final match that has finished level after extra time has been decided by a penalty shoot-out. The winner also qualifies for Mekong Club Championship until 2017[5] but from season 2020 the winner will qualify for ASEAN Club Championship.[6]
From 2010 to the present, the League Cup has attracted title sponsorship, the League Cup was named after its sponsor, giving it the following names: