1996–97 Football League Cup
| Country | England &  Wales
|
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|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 92 | ||
| Defending champions | Aston Villa | ||
| Champions | Leicester City | ||
| Runners-up | Middlesbrough | ||
|
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The 1996–97 Football League Cup (known as the Coca-Cola Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 37th Football League Cup, a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition name reflects a sponsorship deal with soft drinks brand Coca-Cola, who were in the fourth year of their multi-million pound deal.
The tournament was won by Leicester City, who beat Middlesbrough 1–0 in the final replay at Hillsborough after finishing 1–1 at Wembley.
66 of the 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 1995–96 season.
The 33 winners from the First Round joined the 15 Premier League clubs not participating in European competition plus the 3 non-promoted play-off teams from the First Division and the 3 relegated clubs from the Premier League in the 1995–96 season in Round Two. First leg matches were played on the 17 and 18 September, second leg matches were played on 24 and 25 September.
The 27 winners from the Second Round joined the five Premiership clubs participating in European competition in Round Three. Matches were played on 22 and 23 October.
Most matches were played on 26 November 27 November with two replays being played on 18 December.
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