# 2002–03 Football League Cup

The 2002–03 Football League Cup (known as the Worthington Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 43rd staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs.
The competition began on 20 August 2002, and ended with the final on 2 March 2003. The holders were Blackburn Rovers, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Manchester United.
The tournament was won by Liverpool, who beat Manchester United 2–0 in the final, thanks to goals from Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.

## Preliminary round

A preliminary round was necessary to reduce the number of teams by one, because of the extra UEFA Cup place awarded to newly relegated Ipswich Town through the Fair Play league.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Bristol Rovers | 0–2 | Boston United | 20 August 2002 |

## First round

| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Boston United | 1–5 | Cardiff City | 11 September 2002 |
| 2 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 1–1 | Exeter City | 11 September 2002 |
| Brighton win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 3 | Coventry City | 3–0 | Colchester United | 11 September 2002 |
| 4 | Macclesfield Town | 1–1 | Barnsley | 11 September 2002 |
| Macclesfield Town win 4–1 after extra time |||||
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 4–0 | Kidderminster Harriers | 11 September 2002 |
| 6 | Preston North End | 1–1 | Scunthorpe United | 11 September 2002 |
| Preston win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 7 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–0 | Rochdale | 11 September 2002 |
| 8 | Swansea City | 2–3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 11 September 2002 |
| 9 | Swindon Town | 0–0 | Wycombe Wanderers | 11 September 2002 |
| Wycombe Wanderers win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 3–3 | Brentford | 10 September 2002 |
| 3–3 after extra time — Brentford win 4–2 on penalties |||||
| 11 | Bristol City | 0–1 | Oxford United | 10 September 2002 |
| 12 | Burnley | 3–0 | Blackpool | 10 September 2002 |
| 13 | Bury | 1–0 | Stoke City | 10 September 2002 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 1–1 | Plymouth Argyle | 10 September 2002 |
| Crystal Palace win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 15 | Cambridge United | 3–1 | Reading | 10 September 2002 |
| 16 | Grimsby Town | 0–1 | Chesterfield | 10 September 2002 |
| 17 | Hartlepool United | 1–2 | Tranmere Rovers | 10 September 2002 |
| 18 | Huddersfield Town | 2–0 | Darlington | 10 September 2002 |
| 19 | Hull City | 1–1 | Leicester City | 10 September 2002 |
| Leicester City win 4–2 after extra time |||||
| 20 | Leyton Orient | 3–2 | Queens Park Rangers | 10 September 2002 |
| 21 | Lincoln City | 1–3 | Stockport County | 10 September 2002 |
| 22 | Mansfield Town | 1–3 | Derby County | 10 September 2002 |
| 23 | Northampton Town | 0–1 | Wigan Athletic | 10 September 2002 |
| 24 | Norwich City | 0–3 | Cheltenham Town | 10 September 2002 |
| 25 | Oldham Athletic | 3–2 | Notts County | 10 September 2002 |
| 26 | Port Vale | 0–2 | Crewe Alexandra | 10 September 2002 |
| 27 | Portsmouth | 2–0 | Peterborough United | 10 September 2002 |
| 28 | Rotherham United | 3–1 | Carlisle United | 10 September 2002 |
| 29 | Rushden & Diamonds | 0–0 | Millwall | 10 September 2002 |
| 0–0 after extra time — Rushden & Diamonds win 5–3 on penalties |||||
| 30 | Sheffield United | 1–0 | York City | 10 September 2002 |
| 31 | Southend United | 1–4 | Wimbledon | 10 September 2002 |
| 32 | Torquay United | 0–1 | Gillingham | 10 September 2002 |
| 33 | Walsall | 1–0 | Shrewsbury Town | 10 September 2002 |
| 34 | Watford | 1–2 | Luton Town | 10 September 2002 |
| 35 | Wrexham | 2–1 | Bradford City | 10 September 2002 |

## Second round

| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Aston Villa | 3–0 | Luton Town | 2 October 2002 |
| 2 | Bolton Wanderers | 0–1 | Bury | 2 October 2002 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace | 7–0 | Cheltenham Town | 2 October 2002 |
| 4 | Coventry City | 8–0 | Rushden & Diamonds | 2 October 2002 |
| 5 | Derby County | 1–1 | Oldham Athletic | 2 October 2002 |
| Oldham Athletic win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 6 | Leyton Orient | 2–3 | Birmingham City | 2 October 2002 |
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 1–2 | Walsall | 2 October 2002 |
| 8 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–1 | Leicester City | 2 October 2002 |
| Leicester City win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 9 | Southampton | 6–1 | Tranmere Rovers | 2 October 2002 |
| 10 | Wigan Athletic | 3–1 | West Bromwich Albion | 2 October 2002 |
| 11 | Brentford | 1–4 | Middlesbrough | 1 October 2002 |
| 12 | Cambridge United | 0–7 | Sunderland | 1 October 2002 |
| 13 | Charlton Athletic | 0–0 | Oxford United | 1 October 2002 |
| 0–0 after extra time — Oxford United win 6–5 on penalties |||||
| 14 | Chesterfield | 1–1 | West Ham | 1 October 2002 |
| 1–1 after extra time — West Ham win 5–4 on penalties |||||
| 15 | Huddersfield Town | 0–1 | Burnley | 1 October 2002 |
| 16 | Macclesfield Town | 1–2 | Preston North End | 1 October 2002 |
| 17 | Manchester City | 3–2 | Crewe Alexandra | 1 October 2002 |
| 18 | Portsmouth | 1–3 | Wimbledon | 1 October 2002 |
| 19 | Rotherham United | 3–3 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1 October 2002 |
| 4–4 after extra time — Rotherham United win 4–2 on penalties |||||
| 20 | Sheffield United | 4–1 | Wycombe Wanderers | 1 October 2002 |
| 21 | Stockport County | 1–1 | Gillingham | 1 October 2002 |
| Gillingham win 2–1 after extra time |||||
| 22 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1–0 | Cardiff City | 1 October 2002 |
| 23 | Wrexham | 0–3 | Everton | 1 October 2002 |
| 24 | Ipswich Town | 3–1 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 24 September 2002 |

## Third round

| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Arsenal | 2–3 | Sunderland | 6 November 2002 |
| 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 1–1 | Walsall | 6 November 2002 |
| 2–2 after extra time — Blackburn Rovers win 5–4 on penalties |||||
| 3 | Burnley | 2–1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 6 November 2002 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace | 3–0 | Coventry City | 6 November 2002 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 2–1 | Gillingham | 6 November 2002 |
| 6 | Fulham | 3–1 | Bury | 6 November 2002 |
| 7 | Ipswich Town | 3–1 | Middlesbrough | 6 November 2002 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 3–1 | Southampton | 6 November 2002 |
| 9 | Newcastle United | 2–2 | Everton | 6 November 2002 |
| 3–3 after extra time — Everton win 3–2 on penalties |||||
| 10 | Oxford United | 0–3 | Aston Villa | 6 November 2002 |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 2–1 | Leeds United | 6 November 2002 |
| 12 | West Ham | 0–1 | Oldham Athletic | 6 November 2002 |
| 13 | Birmingham City | 0–2 | Preston North End | 5 November 2002 |
| 14 | Wimbledon | 1–3 | Rotherham United | 5 November 2002 |
| 15 | Manchester United | 2–0 | Leicester City | 5 November 2002 |
| 16 | Wigan Athletic | 1–0 | Manchester City | 5 November 2002 |

## Semi-finals
### First leg
### Second leg

Liverpool win 3-2 on aggregate.
Manchester United win 4–2 on aggregate

## Final

The 2003 Football League Cup final was played on 2 March 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The game was contested between Manchester United and Liverpool. Liverpool won the game 2–0.