# 1998–99 Football League Cup

The 1998–99 Football League Cup (known as the Worthington Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 39th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs.
The competition began on 11 August 1998, and ended with the final on 21 March 1999, held at Wembley Stadium.
The tournament was won by Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Leicester City 1–0 in the final, thanks to an Allan Nielsen goal in the last minute of normal time.

## First round

The 72 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 1997–98 season.
| Tie no | Home team$^1$ | (1st Leg) (2nd Leg) Aggregate | Away team |
| 1 | Barnet | (2–1) (0–5) 2–6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 2 | Birmingham City | (2–0) (1–1) 3–1 | Millwall |
| 3 | Blackpool | (1–0) (1–1) 2–1 | Scunthorpe United |
| 4 | Bolton Wanderers | (1–0) (3–0) 4–0 | Hartlepool United |
| 5 | Bradford City | (1–1) (1–0) 2–1 | Lincoln City |
| 6 | Bristol City | (4–0) (3–4) 7–4 | Shrewsbury Town |
| 7 | Bury | (1–1) (4–1) 5–2 | Burnley |
| 8 | Cambridge United | (1–0) (1–1) 2–1 | Watford |
| 9 | Exeter City | (1–1) (1–5) 2–6 | Ipswich Town |
| 10 | Fulham | (2–1) (2–1) 4–2 | Cardiff City |
| 11 | Grimsby Town | (0–0) (0–0) 0–0 | Preston North End |
| After extra time — Grimsby Town win on penalties ||||
| 12 | Huddersfield Town | (3–2) (1–1) 4–3 | Mansfield Town |
| 13 | Leyton Orient | (1–1) (2–1) 3–2 | Bristol Rovers |
| 14 | Luton Town | (2–3) (3–1) 5–4 | Oxford United |
| 15 | Macclesfield Town | (3–1) (0–1) 3–2 | Stoke City |
| 16 | Northampton Town | (2–1) (1–1) 3–2 | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 17 | Notts County | (0–2) (1–7) 1–9 | Manchester City |
| 18 | Oldham Athletic | (3–2) (0–2) 3–4 | Crewe Alexandra |
| 19 | Peterborough United | (1–1) (0–2) 1–3 | Reading |
| 20 | Plymouth Argyle | (1–3) (2–3) 3–6 | Portsmouth |
| 21 | Port Vale | (1–2) (2–2) 3–4 | Chester City |
| 22 | Rotherham United | (0–1) (0–2) 0–3 | Chesterfield |
| 23 | Scarborough | (0–1) (0–3) 0–4 | Barnsley |
| 24 | Sheffield United | (3–1) (2–2) 5–3 | Darlington |
| 25 | Southend United | (1–0) (1–0) 2–0 | Gillingham |
| 26 | Stockport County | (2–2) (0–0) 2–2 | Hull City |
| After extra time — Hull City win on away goals ||||
| 27 | Swansea City | (1–1) (0–1) 1–2 | Norwich City |
| 28 | Swindon Town | (2–1) (0–2) 2–3 | Wycombe Wanderers |
| 29 | Torquay United | (1–1) (1–2) 2–3 | Crystal Palace |
| 30 | Tranmere Rovers | (3–0) (1–0) 4–0 | Carlisle United |
| 31 | Walsall | (0–0) (1–3) 1–3 | QPR |
| 32 | West Bromwich Albion | (2–1) (0–3) 2–4 | Brentford |
| 33 | Wigan Athletic | (1–0) (1–0) 2–0 | Rochdale |
| 34 | Wrexham | (0–2) (2–0) 2–2 | Halifax Town |
| After extra time — Halifax Town win on penalties ||||
| 35 | York City | (0–2) (1–2) 1–4 | Sunderland |
| 36 | Bournemouth | (2–0) (2–3) 4–3 | Colchester United |
$^1$ Team at home in the 1st leg is denoted as the home team

## Second round

The 36 winners from the First Round joined the 12 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition in Round Two. First leg matches were played on 15 and 16 September, second leg matches were played on 22 and 23 September.
| Tie no | Home team$^1$ | (1st Leg) (2nd Leg) Aggregate | Away team |
| 1 | Bristol City | (1–1) (0–2) 1–3 | Crewe Alexandra |
| 2 | Coventry City | (1–0) (4–0) 5–0 | Southend United |
| 3 | Derby County | (1–1) (1–0) 2–1 | Manchester City |
| 4 | Leicester City | (3–0) (3–1) 6–1 | Chesterfield |
| 5 | Middlesbrough | (2–0) (1–1) 3–1 | Wycombe Wanderers |
| 6 | Norwich City | (1–0) (3–2) 4–2 | Wigan Athletic |
| 7 | Q.P.R. | (0–2) (0–1) 0–3 | Charlton Athletic |
| 8 | Sheffield Wednesday | (0–1) (1–1) 1–2 | Cambridge United |
| 9 | Barnsley | (3–0) (1–1) 4–1 | Reading |
| 10 | Blackpool | (2–1) (1–3) 3–4 | Tranmere Rovers |
| 11 | Bolton Wanderers | (3–1) (3–2) 6–3 | Hull City |
| 12 | Bournemouth | (1–1) (2–1) 3–2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 13 | Brentford | (2–3) (2–3) 4–6 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 14 | Bury | (3–0) (1–2) 4–2 | Crystal Palace |
| 15 | Fulham | (1–1) (1–0) 2–1 | Southampton |
| 16 | Halifax Town | (1–2) (1–3) 2–5 | Bradford City |
| 17 | Huddersfield Town | (1–1) (1–2) 2–3 | Everton |
| 18 | Ipswich Town | (2–1) (2–4) 4–5 | Luton Town |
| 19 | Leyton Orient | (1–5) (0–0) 1–5 | Nottingham Forest |
| 20 | Macclesfield Town | (0–3) (0–6) 0–9 | Birmingham City |
| 21 | Northampton Town | (2–0) (0–1) 2–1 | West Ham |
| 22 | Portsmouth | (2–1) (1–4) 3–5 | Wimbledon |
| 23 | Sheffield United | (2–1) (0–2) 2–3 | Grimsby Town |
| 24 | Sunderland | (3–0) (1–0) 4–0 | Chester City |
$^1$ Team at home in the 1st leg is denoted as the home team

## Third round

The 24 winners from the Second Round joined the 8 Premiership clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. Matches were played on 27 and 28 October.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
| 1 | Barnsley | 2–1 | Bournemouth | 27 October 1998 |
| 2 | Charlton Athletic | 1–2 | Leicester City | 27 October 1998 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 3–1 | Fulham | 27 October 1998 |
| 4 | Luton Town | 2–0 | Coventry City | 27 October 1998 |
| 5 | Northampton Town | 1–3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 27 October 1998 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 1–1 | Bolton Wanderers | 27 October 1998 |
| After extra time — Bolton Wanderers win 3–1 on penalties ||||
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 3–3 | Cambridge United | 27 October 1998 |
| After extra time — Nottingham Forest win 4–3 on penalties ||||
| 8 | Sunderland | 2–1 | Grimsby Town | 27 October 1998 |
| 9 | Tranmere Rovers | 0–1 | Newcastle United | 27 October 1998 |
| 10 | Birmingham City | 1–2 | Wimbledon | 28 October 1998 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 4–1 | Aston Villa | 28 October 1998 |
| 12 | Crewe Alexandra | 0–1 | Blackburn Rovers | 28 October 1998 |
| 13 | Derby County | 1–2 | Arsenal | 28 October 1998 |
| 14 | Leeds United | 1–0 | Bradford City | 28 October 1998 |
| 15 | Manchester United | 2–0 | Bury | 28 October 1998 |
| 16 | Middlesbrough | 2–3 | Everton | 28 October 1998 |

## Fourth round

Matches were played on 10 and 11 November.

## Quarter-finals

The four matches were played on 1, and 2 December.

## Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made in December 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 26 and 27 January 1999, the second leg matches were played on 16 and 17 February 1999. It was a narrow victory for Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at the expense of Wimbledon and Sunderland, respectively, giving Tottenham the first chance of their major trophy–and place in Europe–for eight years, while Leicester had reached their second final in three seasons.

### Second leg

Tottenham Hotspur win 1-0 on aggregate
Leicester City win 3-2 on aggregate

## Final

The 1999 Worthington Cup Final was played on 21 March 1999 and was contested between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium. Tottenham won the match 1–0 thanks to a last minute Allan Nielsen header.