1997–98 Football League Cup

1997–98 Football League Cup
	League Cup, Coca-Cola Cup
Country	England ; Wales
Teams	92
Defending champions	Leicester City
Champions	Chelsea (2nd title)
Runners-up	Middlesbrough
Top goal scorer(s)	John Hartson; Joey Beauchamp; (6 goals)
	← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 Football League Cup (known as the Coca-Cola Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 38th Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs.

The competition began on 11 August 1997, and ended with the final on 29 March 1998, held at Wembley Stadium. The tournament was won by Chelsea, who beat Middlesbrough 2–0 in the final.

First round

The 70 First, Second and Third Division clubs compete from the First Round. Each section is divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 1996–97 season.

Tie no	Home team¹	(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) Aggregate	Away team
1	Blackpool	(1-0) (0-1) 1-1	Manchester City
After extra time — Blackpool win 4–2 on penalties
2	Bournemouth	(0-1) (1-1) 1-2	Torquay United
3	Brentford	(1-1) (5-3) 6-4	Shrewsbury Town
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	(1-1) (1-3) 2-4	Leyton Orient
5	Bristol City	(0-0) (2-1) 2-1	Bristol Rovers
6	Cambridge United	(1-1) (1-2) 2-3	West Bromwich Albion
7	Cardiff City	(1-1) (1-3) 2-4	Southend United
8	Charlton Athletic	(0-1) (1-3) 1-4	Ipswich Town
9	Chester City	(1-2) (0-3) 1-5	Carlisle United
10	Colchester United	(0-1) (1-1) 1-2	Luton Town
11	Crewe Alexandra	(2-3) (3-3) 5-6	Bury
12	Darlington	(1-1) (1-2) 2-3	Notts County
13	Doncaster Rovers	(0-8) (1-2) 1-10	Nottingham Forest
14	Gillingham	(0-1) (0-3) 0-4	Birmingham City
15	Huddersfield Town	(2-1) (1-1) 3-2	Bradford City
16	Lincoln City	(1-1) (1-2) 2-3	Burnley
17	Macclesfield Town	(0-0) (1-2) 1-2	Hull City
18	Mansfield Town	(4-2) (3-6) 7-8	Stockport County
19	Northampton Town	(2-1) (1-2) 3-3	Millwall
After extra time — Millwall win 2–0 on penalties
20	Norwich City	(2-1) (1-3) 3-4	Barnet
21	Oldham Athletic	(1-0) (0-5) 1-5	Grimsby Town
22	Oxford United	(2-0) (5-3) 7-3	Plymouth Argyle
23	Peterborough United	(2-2) (2-1) 4-3	Portsmouth
24	Port Vale	(1-2) (1-1) 2-3	York City
25	QPR	(0-2) (2-1) 2-3	Wolverhampton Wanderers
26	Reading	(2-0) (1-1) 3-1	Swansea City
27	Rochdale	(1-3) (1-1) 2-4	Stoke City
28	Rotherham United	(1-3) (0-2) 1-5	Preston North End
29	Scarborough	(0-2) (1-2) 1-4	Scunthorpe United
30	Swindon Town	(0-2) (1-1) 1-3	Watford
31	Tranmere Rovers	(3-1) (1-2) 4-3	Hartlepool United
32	Walsall	(2-0) (1-0) 3-0	Exeter City
33	Wigan Athletic	(1-2) (0-1) 1-3	Chesterfield
34	Wrexham	(1-1) (1-3) 2-4	Sheffield United
35	Wycombe Wanderers	(1-2) (4-4) 5-6	Fulham

¹ Team at home in the 1st leg is denoted as the home team

Second round

The 35 winners from the First Round joined the 13 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition and Middlesbrough and Sunderland who were relegated from the Premier League last season. First leg matches were played on 16 and 17 September, second leg matches were played on 23 and 24 September with one match played on 29 September, seven on 30 September and five on 1 October.

Tie no	Home team¹	(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) Aggregate	Away team
1	Birmingham City	(4-1) (1-2) 5-3	Stockport County
2	Blackburn Rovers	(6-0) (0-1) 6-1	Preston North End
3	Blackpool	(1-0) (1-3) 2-3	Coventry City
4	Burnley	(0-4) (0-2) 0-6	Stoke City
5	Chesterfield	(1-2) (1-4) 2-6	Barnsley
6	Fulham	(0-1) (0-1) 0-2	Wolverhampton Wanderers
7	Grimsby Town	(2-0) (2-3) 4-3	Sheffield Wednesday
8	Huddersfield Town	(1-0) (0-3) 1-3	West Ham United
9	Hull City	(1-0) (1-2) 2-2	Crystal Palace
After extra time — Hull City win on away goals
10	Ipswich Town	(1-1) (3-0) 4-1	Torquay United
11	Leeds United	(3-1) (1-2) 4-3	Bristol City
12	Leyton Orient	(1-3) (4-4) 5-7	Bolton Wanderers
13	Luton Town	(1-1) (2-4) 3-5	West Bromwich Albion
14	Middlesbrough	(1-0) (2-0) 3-0	Barnet
15	Nottingham Forest	(0-1) (2-2) 2-3	Walsall
16	Notts County	(0-2) (1-0) 1-2	Tranmere Rovers
17	Oxford United	(4-1) (2-1) 6-2	York City
18	Reading	(0-0) (2-0) 2-0	Peterborough United
19	Scunthorpe United	(0-1) (0-5) 0-6	Everton
20	Southampton	(3-1) (2-0) 5-1	Brentford
21	Southend United	(0-1) (0-5) 0-6	Derby County
22	Sunderland	(2-1) (2-1) 4-2	Bury
23	Tottenham Hotspur	(3-2) (2-0) 5-2	Carlisle United
24	Watford	(1-1) (0-4) 1-5	Sheffield United
25	Wimbledon	(5-1) (4-1) 9-2	Millwall

¹ Team at home in the 1st leg is denoted as the home team

Third round

The 25 winners from the Second Round joined the seven Premiership clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. Matches were played on 14 and 15 October.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
1	Arsenal	4–1	Birmingham City	14 October 1997
2	Barnsley	1–2	Southampton	14 October 1997
3	Bolton Wanderers	2–0	Wimbledon	14 October 1997
4	Grimsby Town	3–1	Leicester City	14 October 1997
5	Ipswich Town	2–0	Manchester United	14 October 1997
6	Oxford United	1–1	Tranmere Rovers	14 October 1997
After extra time — Oxford United win 6 – 5 on penalties
7	Reading	4–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	14 October 1997
8	Walsall	2–1	Sheffield United	14 October 1997
9	Chelsea	1–1	Blackburn Rovers	15 October 1997
After extra time — Chelsea win 4 – 1 on penalties
10	Coventry City	4–1	Everton	15 October 1997
11	Middlesbrough	2–0	Sunderland	15 October 1997
12	Newcastle United	2–0	Hull City	15 October 1997
13	Stoke City	1–3	Leeds United	15 October 1997
14	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	Derby County	15 October 1997
15	West Bromwich Albion	0–2	Liverpool	15 October 1997
16	West Ham United	3–0	Aston Villa	15 October 1997

Fourth round

Matches were played on 18 and 19 November.

1997-11-18

19:45

Arsenal	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Coventry City
Bergkamp 99'

Highbury, London

Attendance: 30,199

Referee: Gerald Ashby

1997-11-18