Unofficial Champions of England: Arsenal 1-2 Ipswich Town, 01/11/2000

The Gunners reign as champions was brief at three games but the previous two were a London derby victory over West Ham United and a thumping 5-0 victory over Manchester City.

George Burley's Ipswich Town side arrived at Highbury for a Worthington Cup tie as the surprise package of the 2000/01 season. Early season relegation candidates, they would finish a brilliant 5th in the Premier League.

As was Arsene Wenger's tradition in the League Cup, many changes were made to the Arsenal line up though it still contained likes of Ashley Cole, Matthew Upson, Jermaine Pennant and Sylvain Wiltord.

Ipswich won it with goals from Jamie Clapham and James Scowcroft, though Igor Stepanovs did get one for Arsenal.

After four and a half years, Ipswich Town were English Champions for the third time.

Match Report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/worthington_cup/1000608.stm

Unofficial Champions of England: Chelsea 0-1 Huddersfield Town, 13/10/1999

Imagine the scene: you've just beaten the League and European Champions 5-0 whilst barely breaking a sweat.

Next up is a League Cup tie at home against a second-tier side. Piece of cake, right.
Football is never that simple.

Huddersfield weren't doing too badly in Division One at the time but not many really thought they would beat Chelsea in this tie.

Sure, Chelsea rested a lot of players but that shouldn't take away from a determined Huddersfield outfit.
The winning goal came on 77 minutes, Kenny Irons writing himself into Terriers folklore with a 30 yard effort into the top corner.

A memorable night for Huddersfield Town as they claimed their maiden Unofficial English Championship.

Match report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/474278.stm

Unofficial Champions of England: Wimbledon 2-1 Chelsea, 01/12/1998

Michael Hughes scores from the penalty spot

Since winning the Unofficial English Championship, Chelsea had been on a three match run of defences that included a 3-0 win against their opponents for this Worthington Cup tie, Wimbledon.

'The Crazy Gang' often lived up to their nickname, with no one ever quite sure what they would get out of them.

Wimbledon's first goal came in typical fashion, a high ball into the box for Robbie Earle to head in.

The second goal came when Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf pulled down Marcus Gayle in the box. Michael Hughes converted the penalty, blasting high into the goal.
Chelsea did pull one back through player-manager Gianluca Vialli but it was too little too late.

It marked a second English Championship for the Dons.

Unofficial Champions of England: Arsenal 0-5 Chelsea, 11/11/1998

Champions Arsenal went on a four match run defending their Unofficial Championship, seeing off threats from former champions Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County and Coventry City.

The fifth game was a League Cup tie against London rivals Chelsea. The Blues were on a decent run themselves, since an opening day defeat to Coventry they were unbeaten in their last 15 games in all competitions.

Chelsea took the lead in the 34th minute from a hotly contested penalty (what would an Arsenal-Chelsea game be without a little controversy?). Frank Leboeuf stepped up to calmly slot it home.

Chelsea ran away with it in the second half thanks to two goals apiece for Gianluca Vialli and Gustavo Poyet (though there is an argument Poyet's first should be credited as an own goal, I doubt Giles Grimandi will be too keen to claim it).

Arsenal fans will no doubt point to a much changed side for this game, however the history books will only show a 5-0 win for Chelsea at Highbury. And their third Unofficial Championship.

Unofficial Champions of England: Coventry City 1-0 Southend United, 16/09/1998

Paul Hall scores the winning goal for Coventry

Southend were the English Champions but the Worthington Cup brought up a big challenge for them in the shape of Premier League side Coventry City.

Coventry had made a poor start to the season and it would be another season of struggle for the Sky Blues. Southend fought valiantly but the class was too much as Coventry prevailed by a single goal from Paul Hall.

Coventry City won their second English Championship and for the first time in 18 months, it would be defended in the Premier League.

Unofficial Champions of England: Cambridge United 1-0 Watford, 11/08/1998

Trevor Benjamin scores for Cambridge United

Champions Watford had begun life well in Division One. Their opening day bringing a hard fought 2-1 away win at Portsmouth.

Their next game was in the League Cup (now known as the Worthington Cup) and a seemingly favourable tie against Division Three outfit, Cambridge United. A minor shock was on the cards at the Abbey Stadium.

One goal was all that was needed as Trevor Benjamin was the quickest to react in the box to give Cambridge United the first leg victory.

Watford still had the second-leg to recover but Cambridge United had taken the English Championship.