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 noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Barnet(2–1) (0–5) 2–6Wolverhampton Wanderers2Birmingham City(2–0) (1–1) 3–1Millwall3Blackpool(1–0) (1–1) 2–1Scunthorpe United4Bolton Wanderers(1–0) (3–0) 4–0Hartlepool United5Bradford City(1–1) (1–0) 2–1Lincoln City6Bristol City(4–0) (3–4) 7–4Shrewsbury Town7Bury(1–1) (4–1) 5–2Burnley8Cambridge United(1–0) (1–1) 2–1Watford9Exeter City(1–1) (1–5) 2–6Ipswich Town10Fulham(2–1) (2–1) 4–2Cardiff City11Grimsby Town(0–0) (0–0) 0–0Preston North EndAfter extra time — Grimsby Town win on penalties12Huddersfield Town(3–2) (1–1) 4–3Mansfield Town13Leyton Orient(1–1) (2–1) 3–2Bristol Rovers14Luton Town(2–3) (3–1) 5–4Oxford United15Macclesfield Town(3–1) (0–1) 3–2Stoke City16Northampton Town(2–1) (1–1) 3–2Brighton & Hove Albion17Notts County(0–2) (1–7) 1–9Manchester City18Oldham Athletic(3–2) (0–2) 3–4Crewe Alexandra19Peterborough United(1–1) (0–2) 1–3Reading20Plymouth Argyle(1–3) (2–3) 3–6Portsmouth21Port Vale(1–2) (2–2) 3–4Chester City22Rotherham United(0–1) (0–2) 0–3Chesterfield23Scarborough(0–1) (0–3) 0–4Barnsley24Sheffield United(3–1) (2–2) 5–3Darlington25Southend United(1–0) (1–0) 2–0Gillingham26Stockport County(2–2) (0–0) 2–2Hull CityAfter extra time — Hull City win on away goals27Swansea City(1–1) (0–1) 1–2Norwich City28Swindon Town(2–1) (0–2) 2–3Wycombe Wanderers29Torquay United(1–1) (1–2) 2–3Crystal Palace30Tranmere Rovers(3–0) (1–0) 4–0Carlisle United31Walsall(0–0) (1–3) 1–3QPR32West Bromwich Albion(2–1) (0–3) 2–4Brentford33Wigan Athletic(1–0) (1–0) 2–0Rochdale34Wrexham(0–2) (2–0) 2–2Halifax TownAfter extra time — Halifax Town win on penalties35York City(0–2) (1–2) 1–4Sunderland36Bournemouth(2–0) (2–3) 4–3Colchester 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 noHome team1(1st Leg) (2nd Leg) AggregateAway team1Bristol City(1–1) (0–2) 1–3Crewe Alexandra2Coventry City(1–0) (4–0) 5–0Southend United3Derby County(1–1) (1–0) 2–1Manchester City4Leicester City(3–0) (3–1) 6–1Chesterfield5Middlesbrough(2–0) (1–1) 3–1Wycombe Wanderers6Norwich City(1–0) (3–2) 4–2Wigan Athletic7Q.P.R.(0–2) (0–1) 0–3Charlton Athletic8Sheffield Wednesday(0–1) (1–1) 1–2Cambridge United9Barnsley(3–0) (1–1) 4–1Reading10Blackpool(2–1) (1–3) 3–4Tranmere Rovers11Bolton Wanderers(3–1) (3–2) 6–3Hull City12Bournemouth(1–1) (2–1) 3–2Wolverhampton Wanderers13Brentford(2–3) (2–3) 4–6Tottenham Hotspur14Bury(3–0) (1–2) 4–2Crystal Palace15Fulham(1–1) (1–0) 2–1Southampton16Halifax Town(1–2) (1–3) 2–5Bradford City17Huddersfield Town(1–1) (1–2) 2–3Everton18Ipswich Town(2–1) (2–4) 4–5Luton Town19Leyton Orient(1–5) (0–0) 1–5Nottingham Forest20Macclesfield Town(0–3) (0–6) 0–9Birmingham City21Northampton Town(2–0) (0–1) 2–1West Ham22Portsmouth(2–1) (1–4) 3–5Wimbledon23Sheffield United(2–1) (0–2) 2–3Grimsby Town24Sunderland(3–0) (1–0) 4–0Chester 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 noHome teamScoreAway teamDate1Barnsley2–1Bournemouth27 October 19982Charlton Athletic1–2Leicester City27 October 19983Liverpool3–1Fulham27 October 19984Luton Town2–0Coventry City27 October 19985Northampton Town1–3Tottenham Hotspur27 October 19986Norwich City1–1Bolton Wanderers27 October 1998After extra time — Bolton Wanderers win 3–1 on penalties7Nottingham Forest3–3Cambridge United27 October 1998After extra time — Nottingham Forest win 4–3 on penalties8Sunderland2–1Grimsby Town27 October 19989Tranmere Rovers0–1Newcastle United27 October 199810Birmingham City1–2Wimbledon28 October 199811Chelsea4–1Aston Villa28 October 199812Crewe Alexandra0–1Blackburn Rovers28 October 199813Derby County1–2Arsenal28 October 199814Leeds United1–0Bradford City28 October 199815Manchester United2–0Bury28 October 199816Middlesbrough2–3Everton28 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.

First leg

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.

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