The competition began on 20 August 2002, and ended with the final on 2 March 2003.
The holders were Blackburn Rovers, but they were eliminated in the semi-finals by Manchester United.
The tournament was won by Liverpool, who beat Manchester United 2–0 in the final, thanks to goals from Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.
[1] A preliminary round was necessary to reduce the number of teams by one, because of the extra UEFA Cup place awarded to newly relegated Ipswich Town through the Fair Play league.
Manchester United win 4–2 on aggregate The 2003 Football League Cup final was played on 2 March 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.