The 1997–98 Irish League Cup (known as the Wilkinson Sword League Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Irish League Cup, Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 9 September 1997 with the final.

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1997–98 Irish League Cup

Wilkinson Sword League Cup
Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	32
Defending champions	Crusaders
Final positions
Champions	Linfield (4th win)
Runner-up	Glentoran
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	120 (3.87 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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Crusaders were the defending champions after their first League Cup win last season; a 1–0 victory over Glentoran in the previous final. This season they went out in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Linfield, who lifted their fourth League Cup with a 1–0 victory over arch-rivals Glentoran in the final, condemning the Glens to their second successive League Cup final defeat.^[1][2]

This was the last competition to feature clubs from the Irish League B Division. From the following season onwards, the competition would only be open to senior clubs in the top two divisions.

¹ Larne were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. Cookstown United were reinstated.