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 noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Blackpool(1-0) (0-1) 1-1Manchester CityAfter extra time — Blackpool win 4–2 on penalties2Bournemouth(0-1) (1-1) 1-2Torquay United3Brentford(1-1) (5-3) 6-4Shrewsbury Town4Brighton & Hove Albion(1-1) (1-3) 2-4Leyton Orient5Bristol City(0-0) (2-1) 2-1Bristol Rovers6Cambridge United(1-1) (1-2) 2-3West Bromwich Albion7Cardiff City(1-1) (1-3) 2-4Southend United8Charlton Athletic(0-1) (1-3) 1-4Ipswich Town9Chester City(1-2) (0-3) 1-5Carlisle United10Colchester United(0-1) (1-1) 1-2Luton Town11Crewe Alexandra(2-3) (3-3) 5-6Bury12Darlington(1-1) (1-2) 2-3Notts County13Doncaster Rovers(0-8) (1-2) 1-10Nottingham Forest14Gillingham(0-1) (0-3) 0-4Birmingham City15Huddersfield Town(2-1) (1-1) 3-2Bradford City16Lincoln City(1-1) (1-2) 2-3Burnley17Macclesfield Town(0-0) (1-2) 1-2Hull City18Mansfield Town(4-2) (3-6) 7-8Stockport County19Northampton Town(2-1) (1-2) 3-3MillwallAfter extra time — Millwall win 2–0 on penalties20Norwich City(2-1) (1-3) 3-4Barnet21Oldham Athletic(1-0) (0-5) 1-5Grimsby Town22Oxford United(2-0) (5-3) 7-3Plymouth Argyle23Peterborough United(2-2) (2-1) 4-3Portsmouth24Port Vale(1-2) (1-1) 2-3York City25QPR(0-2) (2-1) 2-3Wolverhampton Wanderers26Reading(2-0) (1-1) 3-1Swansea City27Rochdale(1-3) (1-1) 2-4Stoke City28Rotherham United(1-3) (0-2) 1-5Preston North End29Scarborough(0-2) (1-2) 1-4Scunthorpe United30Swindon Town(0-2) (1-1) 1-3Watford31Tranmere Rovers(3-1) (1-2) 4-3Hartlepool United32Walsall(2-0) (1-0) 3-0Exeter City33Wigan Athletic(1-2) (0-1) 1-3Chesterfield34Wrexham(1-1) (1-3) 2-4Sheffield United35Wycombe Wanderers(1-2) (4-4) 5-6Fulham 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 noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Birmingham City(4-1) (1-2) 5-3Stockport County2Blackburn Rovers(6-0) (0-1) 6-1Preston North End3Blackpool(1-0) (1-3) 2-3Coventry City4Burnley(0-4) (0-2) 0-6Stoke City5Chesterfield(1-2) (1-4) 2-6Barnsley6Fulham(0-1) (0-1) 0-2Wolverhampton Wanderers7Grimsby Town(2-0) (2-3) 4-3Sheffield Wednesday8Huddersfield Town(1-0) (0-3) 1-3West Ham United9Hull City(1-0) (1-2) 2-2Crystal PalaceAfter extra time — Hull City win on away goals10Ipswich Town(1-1) (3-0) 4-1Torquay United11Leeds United(3-1) (1-2) 4-3Bristol City12Leyton Orient(1-3) (4-4) 5-7Bolton Wanderers13Luton Town(1-1) (2-4) 3-5West Bromwich Albion14Middlesbrough(1-0) (2-0) 3-0Barnet15Nottingham Forest(0-1) (2-2) 2-3Walsall16Notts County(0-2) (1-0) 1-2Tranmere Rovers17Oxford United(4-1) (2-1) 6-2York City18Reading(0-0) (2-0) 2-0Peterborough United19Scunthorpe United(0-1) (0-5) 0-6Everton20Southampton(3-1) (2-0) 5-1Brentford21Southend United(0-1) (0-5) 0-6Derby County22Sunderland(2-1) (2-1) 4-2Bury23Tottenham Hotspur(3-2) (2-0) 5-2Carlisle United24Watford(1-1) (0-4) 1-5Sheffield United25Wimbledon(5-1) (4-1) 9-2Millwall 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 noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Arsenal4–1Birmingham City14 October 19972Barnsley1–2Southampton14 October 19973Bolton Wanderers2–0Wimbledon14 October 19974Grimsby Town3–1Leicester City14 October 19975Ipswich Town2–0Manchester United14 October 19976Oxford United1–1Tranmere Rovers14 October 1997After extra time — Oxford United win 6 – 5 on penalties7Reading4–2Wolverhampton Wanderers14 October 19978Walsall2–1Sheffield United14 October 19979Chelsea1–1Blackburn Rovers15 October 1997After extra time — Chelsea win 4 – 1 on penalties10Coventry City4–1Everton15 October 199711Middlesbrough2–0Sunderland15 October 199712Newcastle United2–0Hull City15 October 199713Stoke City1–3Leeds United15 October 199714Tottenham Hotspur1–2Derby County15 October 199715West Bromwich Albion0–2Liverpool15 October 199716West Ham United3–0Aston Villa15 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.

First leg

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.

External links Official Carling Cup website Carling Cup at bbc.co.uk League Cup news, match reports and pictures on Reuters.co.uk Results on Soccerbase