Mickey Mouse cup

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Mickey Mouse Cup is a subjective term used in association football, particularly in English football, to negatively describe a cup, league, or other competition as being of a lower standard, importance or significance to a football club or manager relative to other competitions. In English football, the term is usually applied by larger Premier League clubs to the Football League Cup^[1][2], popularised after the competition was described as such by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The term has also been applied to the UEFA Super Cup or the FIFA Club World Cup, not seen as part of the regular season. Often, the term is applied by fans, players or managers of a larger club who seek to win more prestigious competitions, but can be applied by those of lower league clubs who see league performance - particularly with regard to promotion and relegation - as a priority and perceive the targeted competition as an unnecessary and meaningless fixture. The perception of a cup as 'Mickey Mouse' may not be universal, since smaller and lower standard competitions give a chance for lower league clubs to win silverware, and additionally gain extra revenue from playing a much larger club.

The term may also be applied to a competition to intentionally disparage the winning of it by a rival side, or to minimize the importance of the competition to a club if knocked out - the term may be applied even if the competition is universally considered of a high standard and interest, notably the FA Cup. This may be done for reasons of 'mind games' with rival clubs in other competitions, or for reasons to maintain team morale.

Often, a club that perceives a competition as a 'Mickey Mouse Cup' - usually a better Premier League side - will field a weakened, reserve or youth team in the competition, resting more high profile players and further weakening the perception of the competition. However, this often has the effect of giving chances to play to developing players, who may progress into the first team.

The terms Mickey Mouse Treble and Mickey Mouse Double have been used subjectively to disparage the winning of what are perceived as multiple lesser trophies by larger clubs in a single season, in comparison to the The Treble and The Double. Such terms are usually applied by a rival club. The term 'Mickey Mouse Treble' has been notably used by fans of Manchester United FC to describe Liverpool FC's 2001 win of the Football League Cup, UEFA Cup and FA Cup partly due to the lower standard of the first two competitions and the equal comparison made by the club with The Treble as won by United in 1999^[3][4][5]

The achievements of a manager or player may also been described using the term if consisting of winning a number of lesser trophies, yet failing to win higher tier competitions. Notably, former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier was criticised for winning supposed 'Mickey Mouse Cups' yet failing to deliver higher tier league or European success^[6]

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