The 1999–2000 Football League Cup (known as the Worthington Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 40th staging of the Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs.
The competition began on 10 August 1999, and ended with the final on 27 February 2000, the last final to be held at the old Wembley Stadium. For the first time in English football history, the entire draw for each round was made after the first round. This meant each team could plot their route to the final as well as predicting future opponents.
The tournament was won by Leicester City, who beat Tranmere Rovers 2–1 in the final, thanks to two goals from Matt Elliott, sandwiched by an equaliser from David Kelly.
First round The 70 First, Second and Third Division clubs (with the exception of Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic, who were relegated from the Premiership last season) 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 1998–99 season.
Tie noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Torquay United(0–0) (0–3) 0–3Portsmouth2Brentford(0–2) (0–2) 0–4Ipswich Town3Brighton(0–2) (0–2) 0–4Gillingham4Manchester City(5–0) (1–0) 6–0Burnley5Nottingham Forest(3–0) (0–1) 3–1Mansfield Town6Reading(0–0) (2–1) 2–1Peterborough United7Swansea City(2–0) (1–1) 3–1Millwall8Birmingham City(3–0) (2–1) 5–1Exeter City9Blackpool(2–1) (1–3) 3–4Tranmere Rovers10Bournemouth(2–0) (2–3) 4–3Barnet11Bury(1–0) (0–2) 1–2Notts County12Cambridge United(2–2) (1–2) 3–4Bristol City13Cardiff City(1–2) (2–1) 3–3Q.P.R.After extra time – Cardiff City win 3 – 2 on penalties14Carlisle United(0–0) (0–6) 0–6Grimsby Town15Chester City(2–1) (4–4) 6–5Port Vale16Colchester United(2–2) (1–3) 3–5Crystal Palace17Darlington(1–1) (3–5) 4–6Bolton Wanderers18Halifax Town(0–0) (1–5) 1–5West Bromwich Albion19Hartlepool United(3–3) (0–1) 3–4Crewe Alexandra20Lincoln City(2–4) (2–2) 4–6Barnsley21Luton Town(0–2) (2–2) 2–4Bristol Rovers22Macclesfield Town(1–1) (0–3) 1–4Stoke City23Northampton Town(1–2) (1–3) 2–5Fulham24Norwich City(2–0) (1–2) 3–2Cheltenham Town25Preston(1–0) (2–0) 3–0Wrexham26Rochdale(1–2) (1–2) 2–4Chesterfield27Rotherham United(0–1) (0–2) 0–3Hull City28Scunthorpe United(0–2) (0–0) 0–2Huddersfield Town29Sheffield United(3–0) (3–0) 6–0Shrewsbury Town30Southend United(0–2) (0–1) 0–3Oxford United31Stockport County(2–0) (1–1) 3–1Oldham Athletic32Swindon Town(0–1) (1–1) 1–2Leyton Orient33Walsall(4–1) (4–1) 8–2Plymouth Argyle34Wycombe Wanderers(0–1) (4–2) 4–3Wolverhampton Wanderers35York City(0–1) (1–2) 1–3Wigan Athletic 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, along with Blackburn Rovers And Charlton Athletic in round two. First leg matches were played on 14 and 15 September, second leg matches were played on 21 and 22 September.
Tie noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Manchester City(0–0) (3–4) 3–4Southampton2Nottingham Forest(2–1) (0–0) 2–1Bristol City3Barnsley(1–1) (3–3) 4–4Stockport CountyBarnsley win on away goals4Birmingham City(2–0) (1–0) 3–0Bristol Rovers5Bradford City(1–1) (2–2) 3–3ReadingBradford City win on away goals6Crystal Palace(3–3) (2–4) 5–7Leicester City7Cardiff City(1–1) (1–3) 2–4Wimbledon8Charlton Athletic(0–0) (0–0) 0–0BournemouthAfter extra time – Bournemouth win 3 – 1 on penalties9Chester City(0–1) (0–5) 0–6Aston Villa10Chesterfield(0–0) (1–2) 1–2Middlesbrough11Crewe Alexandra(2–1) (1–1) 3–2Ipswich Town12Gillingham(1–4) (0–2) 1–6Bolton Wanderers13Grimsby Town(4–1) (0–1) 4–2Leyton Orient14Huddersfield Town(2–1) (2–2) 4–3Notts County15Hull City(1–5) (2–4) 3–9Liverpool16Norwich City(0–4) (0–2) 0–6Fulham17Oxford United(1–1) (1–0) 2–1Everton18Portsmouth(0–3) (1–3) 1–6Blackburn Rovers19Sheffield United(2–0) (0–3) 2–3Preston20Stoke City(0–0) (1–3) 1–3Sheffield Wednesday21Sunderland(3–2) (5–0) 8–2Walsall22Swansea City(0–0) (1–3) 1–3Derby County23Tranmere Rovers(5–1) (1–3) 6–4Coventry City24Watford(2–0) (1–3) 3–3Wigan AthleticWatford win on away goals25West Bromwich Albion(1–1) (4–3) 5–4Wycombe Wanderers 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 12 and 13 October.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Aston Villa3–0Manchester United13 October 19992Chelsea0–1Huddersfield Town13 October 19993Derby County1–2Bolton Wanderers13 October 19994Leeds United1–0Blackburn Rovers13 October 19995Leicester City2–0Grimsby Town13 October 19996Middlesbrough1–0Watford13 October 19997Sheffield Wednesday4–1Nottingham Forest13 October 19998Southampton2–1Liverpool13 October 19999Tottenham Hotspur3–1Crewe Alexandra13 October 199910West Ham United2–0Bournemouth13 October 199911Arsenal2–1Preston12 October 199912Bradford City2–3Barnsley12 October 199913Wimbledon3–2Sunderland12 October 199914Birmingham City2–0Newcastle United12 October 199915Tranmere Rovers2–0Oxford United12 October 199916West Bromwich Albion1–2Fulham12 October 1999
Fourth round Most matches were played on 30 November 1 December with one played on 15 December.
Quarter-finals The four matches were played between 14 December and 12 January.
NOTE: This match was a replay after West Ham were ordered to replay the match after fielding an ineligible player in the original tie. West Ham had won the original tie on penalties.
Semi-finals The semi-final draw was made in December 1999 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 12 and 25 January 2000, the second leg matches were played on 26 January and 2 February 2000. Tranmere Rovers reached the first major cup final of their history with a fine win over Bolton Wanderers, while Leicester City's victory over Aston Villa gave them their third appearance in the competition's final in four years.
First leg
Second leg
Tranmere Rovers won 4–0 on aggregate
Leicester City won 1–0 on aggregate
Final
The 2000 Worthington Cup Final was played on 27 February 2000 and was contested between Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium. Leicester won the game 2–1.
References
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