League Cup 1987/88

The League Cup 1987/88 was the 28th edition of the English League Cup , which had existed since 1960 .

The competition started on August 17, 1987 with the first round and ended on April 24, 1988 with the final at Wembley . The title went to Luton Town , who beat defending champions Arsenal 3-2 in the final. The club from Luton thus secured their first title in the English League Cup when they entered the finals for the first time. Arsenal had turned the early deficit with two goals in the 71st and 74th minutes, before Nigel Winterburn failed with a penalty kick to Luton goalkeeper Andy Dibble in the 80th minute and thus missed the possible preliminary decision. Two hits from Danny Wilson and Brian Stein ultimately secured the underdog Luton Town the title.

First round

	total		First leg	Return leg
Blackpool FC		Chester City	2-0	0: 1
Bournemouth AFC		Exeter City	1: 1	3: 1 a.d.
Brentford FC		Southend United	2: 1	2: 4
Bristol Rovers		Hereford United	1-0	0: 2
Bury FC		Preston North End	2: 2	3: 2 a.d.
Cambridge United		Aldershot Town	1: 1	4: 1
Chesterfield FC		Peterborough United	2: 1	0: 2
Crewe Alexandra		Shrewsbury Town	3: 3	1: 4
Fulham FC		Colchester United	3: 1	2-0
Gillingham FC	(5: 4 i.E.)	Brighton & Hove Albion	1-0	0: 1 a.d.
Grimsby Town		Darlington FC	3: 2	1: 2 a.d.
Halifax Town		York city	1: 1	0: 1
Leyton Orient		Millwall FC	1: 1	0: 1
Mansfield Town		Birmingham City	2: 2	1-0
AFC Newport County		Cardiff City	2: 1	2: 2
FC Port Vale		Northampton Town	0: 1	0: 4
Rochdale AFC		Tranmere Rovers	3: 1	0: 1
Rotherham United		Huddersfield Town	4: 4	3: 1
Scarborough FC		Doncaster Rovers	1-0	1: 3
Scunthorpe United		Hartlepool United	3: 1	1-0
Stockport County		Carlisle United	0: 1	0: 3
Sunderland FC		Middlesbrough FC	1-0	0: 2
Swindon Town		Bristol City	3-0	2: 3
Torquay United		Swansea City	2: 1	1: 1
West Bromwich Albion		Walsall FC	2: 3	0-0
Wigan Athletic		Bolton Wanderers	2: 3	3: 1
Wolverhampton Wanderers		Notts County	3-0	2: 1
Wrexham FC		Burnley FC	1-0	0: 3

Second round

		First leg	Return leg
Barnsley FC	West Ham United	0-0	5: 2 a.d.
Blackburn Rovers	Liverpool FC	1: 1	0: 1
Blackpool FC	Newcastle United	1-0	1: 4
Bournemouth AFC	Southampton FC	1-0	2: 2
Burnley FC	Norwich City	1: 1	0: 1
Bury FC	Sheffield United	2: 1	1: 1
Cambridge United	Coventry City	0: 1	1: 2
Carlisle United	Oldham Athletic	4: 3	1: 4 a.d.
Charlton Athletic	Walsall FC	3-0	0: 2
Crystal Palace	AFC Newport County	4-0	2-0
Darlington FC	Watford FC	0: 3	0: 8
Doncaster Rovers	Arsenal FC	0: 3	0: 1
Everton FC	Rotherham United	3: 2	0-0
Fulham FC	Bradford City	1: 5	1: 2
Ipswich Town	Northampton Town	1: 1	4: 2 a.d.
Leeds United	York city	1: 1	4-0
Leicester City	Scunthorpe United	2: 1	2: 1
Manchester City	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1: 2	2-0
Manchester United	Hull City	5-0	1-0
Middlesbrough FC	Aston Villa	0: 1	0: 1
Nottingham Forest	Hereford United	5-0	1: 1
Oxford United	Mansfield Town	1: 1	2-0
Peterborough United	Plymouth Argyle	4: 1	1: 1
Queens Park Rangers	Millwall FC	2: 1	0-0
Reading FC	Chelsea FC	3: 1	2: 3
Rochdale AFC	Wimbledon FC	1: 1	1: 2
Shrewsbury Town	Sheffield Wednesday	1: 1	1: 2
Southend United	Derby County	1-0	0-0
Stoke City	Gillingham FC	2-0	1-0
Swindon Town	Portsmouth FC	3: 1	3: 1
Torquay United	Tottenham Hotspur	1-0	0: 3
Wigan Athletic	Luton Town	0: 1	2: 4

Third round

	Result
Arsenal FC	3-0	Bournemouth AFC
Aston Villa	2: 1	Tottenham Hotspur
Barnsley FC	1: 2	Sheffield Wednesday
Bury FC	1-0	Queens Park Rangers
Charlton Athletic	0: 1	Bradford City
Ipswich Town	1-0	Southend United
Leeds United	2: 2	Oldham Athletic
Liverpool FC	0: 1	Everton FC
Luton Town	3: 1	Coventry City
Manchester City	3-0	Nottingham Forest
Manchester United	2: 1	Crystal Palace
Oxford United	0-0	Leicester City
Peterborough United	0-0	Reading FC
Stoke City	2: 1	Norwich City
Swindon Town	1: 1	Watford FC
Wimbledon FC	2: 1	Newcastle United

Replay games

	Result
Oldham Athletic	4: 2 a.d.	Leeds United
Leicester City	2: 3	Oxford United
Reading FC	1-0	Peterborough United
Watford FC	4: 2	Swindon Town

Fourth round

	Result
Arsenal FC	3-0	Stoke City
Aston Villa	1: 2	Sheffield Wednesday
Bury FC	1: 2	Manchester United
Everton FC	2: 1	Oldham Athletic
Ipswich Town	0: 1	Luton Town
Manchester City	3: 1	Watford FC
Oxford United	2: 1	Wimbledon FC
Reading FC	0-0	Bradford City