Background
The origin of the Anglo-Italian League Cup (also known as the Anglo-Italian Cup Winners' Cup and billed on the match programme as the International League Cup Winners' Cup) was to reward Swindon Town with European football in lieu of their ineligibility for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup following their victory in the 1968–69 League Cup, beating Arsenal in the final. The Football League Cup had been changed in 1967 so the winner would be awarded a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup; however, third-tier teams were not permitted in the competition. Queens Park Rangers won that year's final but were omitted from the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as they were in the Third Division. When another Third Division team, namely Swindon, won the League Cup two years later the Anglo-Italian League Cup was organised as a way of compensating Swindon for the ruling that prevented them competing in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
The competition consisted of a single two-legged match against the Italian team A.S. Roma who had won the Coppa Italia that season.
Read more about this topic: 1969 Anglo-Italian League Cup
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