Glentoran were the defending champions after their fourth League Cup win last season; a 2–0 victory over Linfield in the previous final.
This season the Glens reached the semi-finals but were later disqualified from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in an earlier match.
As a result, Larne were given a walkover into the final where they were defeated on penalties by Cliftonville, who won the Cup for the first time.
[1][2][3] As a result of a restructuring of the league system, the number of clubs eligible to take part in the competition this season was reduced to 16.
The top two clubs from each group then advanced to the quarter-finals where they played a single knock-out tie against another quarter-finalist.