# 1997–98 Football League Cup

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 team$^1$ | (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 team$^1$ | (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.

## Quarter-finals

The four matches were played on 6 and 7 January.

## Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made in January 1998 after the conclusion of the quarter finals. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The first leg matches were played on 27 and 28 January 1998, the second leg matches were played on 18 February 1998. Arsenal's hopes of a unique domestic treble were ended by London rivals Chelsea, while Liverpool suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Middlesbrough.

### Second leg

Middlesbrough win 3-2 on aggregate
Chelsea win 4-3 on aggregate

## Final

The 1998 Coca-Cola Cup Final was played on 29 March 1998 and was contested between Chelsea and Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea won the final 2–0 in extra time thanks to goals from Frank Sinclair and Roberto Di Matteo.