The 2002 Football League Cup Final was played between
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Sunday, 24 February 2002. Blackburn won the match 2–1 in what was the club's first appearance in the competition's final.
Tottenham were forced to produce a one-off yellow shirt for the final when
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
decided both of their home and away strips, respectively white and light blue, clashed with Blackburn's blue-and-white home strip.
Blackburn were without defender
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short (born 25 June 1968) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Playing career
Short was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and after attending Amotherby primary school and Lady L ...
and midfielders
Gary Flitcroft
Garry William Flitcroft (born 6 November 1972) is an English association football, football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder.
Between 1991 and 2006, Flitcroft spent four seasons in the Premier League with Manche ...
and
Tugay Kerimoğlu due to suspension. This led to 38 year-old veteran striker
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City.
During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...
starting in central midfield. Blackburn were also without injured back-up goalkeeper
Alan Kelly and cup-tied right-back
Lucas Neill
Lucas Edward Neill (born 9 March 1978) is an Australian former soccer player. Neill played as a defender, often playing as a centre back as well as a full-back. Neill spent almost 15 years of his career playing in England. He represented Austr ...
.
Blackburn opened the scoring with a goal from
Matt Jansen, but
Christian Ziege
Christian Ziege (; born 1 February 1972) is a German football manager and former player. He most recently coached FC Pinzgau.
A defender, he started his playing career at FC Bayern Munich, where he won two Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Cup be ...
soon equalised for Spurs.
Andy Cole scored the winner in the 68th minute with a typical instinctive strike after mistakes in the Spurs defence, mainly from
Ledley King
Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is a former player who was a one-club man, spending his entire career at Tottenham Hotspur and playing 323 competitive matches for the club from 1999 to 2012. He is currently a club ambassador for Tot ...
.
Les Ferdinand
Leslie Ferdinand MBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and television pundit, who is currently the director of football at Queens Park Rangers.
A striker, his playing career included notable sp ...
could have made the match square after a close one-on-one chance with Friedel, but failed to make anything of it. In the final minute
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham, MBE (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career.
Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where ...
had a claim for a penalty turned down by referee Graham Poll.
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Road to Cardiff
Match
Details
References
{{Tottenham Hotspur F.C. matches
Cup Final
EFL Cup Finals
League Cup Final 2002
League Cup Final 2002
2000s in Cardiff
February 2002 sports events in the United Kingdom
2002 sports events in London