2011–12 in English football

England 2011–12
Season information
Premier League	Manchester City
Championship	Reading
League One	Charlton Athletic
League Two	Swindon Town
FA Cup	Chelsea
League Cup	Liverpool
Community Shield	Manchester United
← 2010–11	2012–13 →

The 2011–12 season was the 132nd season of competitive football in England.

The season began on 5 August 2011 for The Football League, on 12 August for the Football Conference and 13 August for the Premier League. The Championship ended on 28 April 2012, whilst League One, and League Two ended on 5 May 2012. The Premier League ended on 13 May 2012.

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

Teams relegated from the Premier League

• Birmingham City
• Blackpool
• West Ham United

Teams promoted to the Premier League

• Queens Park Rangers
• Norwich City
• Swansea City

Teams relegated from the Championship

• Preston North End
• Sheffield United
• Scunthorpe United

Teams promoted to Championship

• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Southampton
• Peterborough United

Teams relegated from League One

• Dagenham & Redbridge
• Bristol Rovers
• Plymouth Argyle
• Swindon Town

Teams promoted to League One

• Chesterfield
• Bury
• Wycombe Wanderers
• Stevenage

Teams relegated from League Two

• Lincoln City
• Stockport County

Teams promoted to League Two

• Crawley Town
• AFC Wimbledon

Honours

Trophy and League Champions

Competition	Winner	Details	At	Match Report
FA Cup	Chelsea	2011–12 FA Cup beat Liverpool 2–1	Wembley	Report
League Cup	Liverpool	2011–12 Football League Cup beat Cardiff City 3–2 on penalties (2–2 after extra time)	Wembley	Report
Premier League	Manchester City	2011–12 Premier League beat QPR 3–2	City of Manchester Stadium	Report
Football League Championship	Reading	2011–12 Football League Championship	Madejski Stadium	Report
Football League One	Charlton Athletic	2011–12 Football League One	The Valley	Report
Football League Two	Swindon Town	2011–12 Football League Two	County Ground	Report
FA Community Shield	Manchester United	2011 FA Community Shield beat Manchester City 3–2	Wembley	Report
Football League Trophy	Chesterfield	2011–12 Football League Trophy beat Swindon Town 2–0	Wembley	Report
FA Trophy	York City	2011–12 FA Trophy beat Newport County 2–0	Wembley	Report

Promotion winners

Competition	Winner	Details
Football League Championship	Southampton	2nd in Championship
Football League One	Sheffield Wednesday	2nd in League One
Football League Two	Shrewsbury Town and Crawley Town	2nd and 3rd in League Two

Playoff winners

Competition	Winner	Details
Football League Championship	West Ham United	2011–12 Football League Championship Beat Blackpool 2–1
Football League One	Huddersfield Town	2011–12 Football League One Beat Sheffield United 8–7 on Penalties (0–0 after extra time)
Football League Two	Crewe Alexandra	2011–12 Football League Two Beat Cheltenham Town 2–0
Conference National	York City	2011–12 Conference National Beat Luton Town 2–1
Conference North	Nuneaton Town	2011–12 Conference North Beat Gainsborough Trinity 1–0
Conference South	Dartford	2011–12 Conference South Beat Welling United 1–0

England national football team

Euro 2012 qualification

2 September 2011	Bulgaria	0–3	England	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
21:15 UTC+3		Report	Cahill  13' Rooney  21', 90+4'	Attendance: 36,521 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

6 September 2011	England	1–0	Wales	Wembley Stadium, London
19:45 UTC+1	Young  35'	Report		Attendance: 77,128 Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (Austria)

7 October 2011	Montenegro	2–2	England	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica
21:00 UTC+2	Zverotić  45' Delibašić  90+1'	Report	Young  11' Bent  31'	Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

Friendlies

10 August 2011	England	P – P	Netherlands	Wembley Stadium, London
20:00 BST

12 November 2011	England	1–0	Spain	Wembley Stadium, London
17:15 GMT	Lampard  49'	Report		Attendance: 87,189 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

15 November 2011	England	1–0	Sweden	Wembley Stadium, London
20:00 GMT	Barry  22'	Report		Attendance: 48,876 Referee: Pavel Královec (Czech Republic)

29 February 2012	England	2–3	Netherlands	Wembley Stadium, London
20:00 GMT	Cahill  85' Young  90+2'	Report	Robben  57', 90+2' Huntelaar  59'	Attendance: 76,283 Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

26 May 2012	Norway	0–1	England	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
20:45 CEST		Report	Young  9'	Attendance: 21,496 Referee: Michael Weiner (Germany)

1 June 2012	England	1–0	Belgium	Wembley Stadium, London
17:15 BST	Welbeck  36'	Report		Attendance: 85,091 Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark)

League tables

Premier League

In one of the most memorable finishes to a season in recent memory, Manchester City ended a 44-year wait to win their first Premier League title on goal difference, with Sergio Agüero scoring in the last minute of stoppage time during their dramatic 3–2 win over Queens Park Rangers on the final day. Despite being pushed all the way, they won their final six games, while cross-city neighbours Manchester United squandered an eight-point lead in what was largely a trophyless season for Sir Alex Ferguson's men for the first time in six years. Arsenal recovered from a poor start to the season to take third place, while striker Robin van Persie won the Players' Player of the Year Award by scoring 30 goals.

Newcastle finished fifth to qualify for the Europa League, recording their first top-six finish in eight years under Alan Pardew, who won the Manager of the Year award. Chelsea suffered their worst season in ten years, finishing sixth with 64 points; André Villas-Boas, the personal choice for owner Roman Abramovich, was sacked after just nine months with automatic qualification for the Champions League at risk. Under caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo, however, they excelled in the cup competitions, winning the FA Cup for the fourth time in six seasons. It was the Champions League, though, in which they stunned everyone, storming their way through each round to reach the final against Bayern Munich. Pushing the German powerhouse to penalties, they kept the advantage and ultimately won 4–3, giving them their first European Cup victory and ensuring they qualified for the elite competition once again; their victory meant that fourth-placed Tottenham had to enter the Europa League and caused Harry Redknapp to lose his job after three-and-a-half years in charge.

Liverpool were similar to Chelsea for parts of the league, but ultimately worse as they recorded their lowest league finish for 18 years, finishing in eighth place and only edging ninth-placed Fulham on a higher goal difference; their season was marred by striker Luis Suárez being convicted of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October. They put this controversy behind them by winning the League Cup, ending five consecutive seasons without winning a trophy. Kenny Dalglish, fabled for his earlier Liverpool managerial reign in the late 1980s, was sacked after just 16 months following a poor finish to the season that saw them pick up just 13 points from 14 games.

For only the second time in Premier League history, all three promoted teams survived, though all finished in the bottom half. Swansea City were the pundit's choice to be relegated, but they defied their critics with their own unique style of football and claimed shock victories over the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool to finish a respectable 11th; by the season's end, Brendan Rodgers was starting to attract the attention of other Premier League teams. Norwich City finished just below them in 12th, impressing on their return to the top flight and also had manager Paul Lambert attracting the attention of other Premier League clubs. Queens Park Rangers were left needing to rely on other results on the last day to help them survive, though a run of 19 points from their last nine home fixtures played a major part in their survival.

The sacking of Mick McCarthy after nearly six years and the appointment of first team coach Terry Connor effectively ended Wolverhampton Wanderers' three-year spell in the top-flight. With just four points and no wins taken from Connor's final 13 games in charge, they finished bottom of the table. Having been clear of the relegation zone at the start of April, Blackburn Rovers were also undone by poor late-season form; losing eight of their last nine games as growing anger from the supporters toward owners Venky's and manager Steve Kean continued. Bolton Wanderers, who coincidentally had been promoted alongside Blackburn in 2001, went down on the last day of the season after a horrible start to the year that saw them bottom for most of the campaign.

Main article:2011–12 Premier League

2011–12 Premier League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Manchester City  (C)	38	28	5	5	93	29	+64	89	2012–13 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2	Manchester United	38	28	5	5	89	33	+56	89
3	Arsenal	38	21	7	10	74	49	+25	70
4	Tottenham Hotspur	38	20	9	9	66	41	+25	69	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Group stage 2
5	Newcastle United	38	19	8	11	56	51	+5	65	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
6	Chelsea	38	18	10	10	65	46	+19	64	2012–13 UEFA Champions League Group stage 2
7	Everton	38	15	11	12	50	40	+10	56
8	Liverpool	38	14	10	14	47	40	+7	52	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round 1
9	Fulham	38	14	10	14	48	51	−3	52
10	West Bromwich Albion	38	13	8	17	45	52	−7	47
11	Swansea City	38	12	11	15	44	51	−7	47
12	Norwich City	38	12	11	15	52	66	−14	47
13	Sunderland	38	11	12	15	45	46	−1	45
14	Stoke City	38	11	12	15	36	53	−17	45
15	Wigan Athletic	38	11	10	17	42	62	−20	43
16	Aston Villa	38	7	17	14	37	53	−16	38
17	Queens Park Rangers	38	10	7	21	43	66	−23	37
18	Bolton Wanderers  (R)	38	10	6	22	46	77	−31	36	Relegation to the  Football League Championship
19	Blackburn Rovers  (R)	38	8	7	23	48	78	−30	31
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers  (R)	38	5	10	23	40	82	−42	25

Updated to games played on 19 May 2012
Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Leading goalscorer: Robin van Persie (Arsenal) – 30

Championship

A year after suffering heartbreak in the play-off final, an excellent run of 50 points from their remaining 21 games saw Reading crowned divisional champions, earning promotion to the top flight for only the second time in their history. Having been in the top two for the majority of the season, Southampton finished in the runners-up spot to claim their second successive promotion, returning to the Premier League after a seven-year absence as their revival under Nigel Adkins continued, one year after Norwich won a second successive promotion. West Ham United, who lost out to Southampton on the last day of the season, won promotion via the play-offs, with manager Sam Allardyce passing his former clubs Blackburn and Bolton on the way up.

Doncaster Rovers' luck finally ran out after four years of operating on the division's lowest budget, and they were relegated in bottom place. 11 years after dropping out of the Premier League, Coventry City finally hit rock bottom as they suffered from an ongoing financial crisis and the loss of several key players pre-season, their never-ending downward spiral culminating in relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1964. Portsmouth fell back into financial difficulties and went into administration for the second time in three seasons, with the resulting ten-point deduction dealing a fatal blow to their survival hopes and sending them down to League One (had it not been for Portsmouth's points deduction, Barnsley would have been the third relegated side).

Main article:2011–12 Football League Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Reading  (C) (P)	46	27	8	11	69	41	+28	89	Promotion to the  2012–13 Premier League
2	Southampton  (P)	46	26	10	10	85	46	+39	88
3	West Ham United  (P)	46	24	14	8	81	48	+33	86	Qualification to the League Championship playoffs
4	Birmingham City	46	20	16	10	78	51	+27	76
5	Blackpool	46	20	15	11	79	59	+20	75
6	Cardiff City	46	19	18	9	66	53	+13	75
7	Middlesbrough	46	18	16	12	52	51	+1	70
8	Hull City	46	19	11	16	47	43	+4	68
9	Leicester City	46	18	12	16	66	55	+11	66
10	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	17	15	14	52	52	0	66
11	Watford	46	16	16	14	56	64	−8	64
12	Derby County	46	18	10	18	50	58	−8	64
13	Burnley	46	17	11	18	61	58	+3	62
14	Leeds United	46	17	10	19	65	68	−3	61
15	Ipswich Town	46	17	10	19	69	77	−8	61
16	Millwall	46	15	12	19	55	57	−2	57
17	Crystal Palace	46	13	17	16	46	51	−5	56
18	Peterborough United	46	13	11	22	67	77	−10	50
19	Nottingham Forest	46	14	8	24	47	63	−16	50
20	Bristol City	46	12	13	21	44	68	−24	49
21	Barnsley	46	13	9	24	49	74	−25	48
22	Portsmouth  (R)	46	13	11	22	50	59	−9	040‡	Relegation to the  League One
23	Coventry City  (R)	46	9	13	24	41	65	−24	40
24	Doncaster Rovers  (R)	46	8	12	26	43	80	−37	36

Updated to games played on 28 April 2012
Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

^‡Portsmouth deducted 10 points for entering administration.

Leading goalscorer Rickie Lambert (Southampton) – 27

League One

Main article:2011–12 Football League One

Chris Powell's first full season in charge of Charlton earned the Addicks promotion at the third time of asking, leading the division for virtually the entire season to win the title with a club record of 101 points. The two Sheffield clubs contested the second automatic promotion spot; United were in the top two for most of the season, but struggled with form after top scorer Ched Evans was imprisoned for rape, allowing Wednesday to claim second place and a return to the Championship after a two-year absence. It was ultimately to be another Yorkshire side, Huddersfield Town, who were victorious over United in the play-offs, meaning they would be playing in the second tier for the first time since 2001.

After equalling their highest league finish last season, the departure of Keith Hill to Barnsley during the summer meant that Rochdale finished bottom, bringing their long-awaited spell in League One to an end after just two years. Exeter City also failed to build on their near-miss of the previous season's play-offs and finished second bottom, returning to League Two after three years. Chesterfield couldn't adjust to life in the third tier and they too were relegated, despite winning the Football League Trophy. Wycombe Wanderers, who finished six points behind the Spireites last season, didn't last long either, and they also suffered immediate relegation back to League Two.

2011–12 Football League One table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Charlton Athletic  (C) (P)	46	30	11	5	82	36	+46	101	Promotion to the Football League Championship
2	Sheffield Wednesday  (P)	46	28	9	9	81	48	+33	93
3	Sheffield United	46	27	9	10	92	51	+41	90	Qualification to the League One play-offs
4	Huddersfield Town  (P) (O)	46	21	18	7	79	47	+32	81
5	Milton Keynes Dons	46	22	14	10	84	47	+37	80
6	Stevenage	46	18	19	9	69	44	+25	73
7	Notts County	46	21	10	15	75	63	+12	73
8	Carlisle United	46	18	15	13	65	66	−1	69
9	Brentford	46	18	13	15	63	52	+11	67
10	Colchester United	46	13	20	13	61	66	−5	59
11	Bournemouth	46	15	13	18	48	52	−4	58
12	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	14	18	49	53	−4	56
13	Hartlepool United	46	14	14	18	50	55	−5	56
14	Bury	46	15	11	20	60	79	−19	56
15	Preston North End	46	13	15	18	54	68	−14	54
16	Oldham Athletic	46	14	12	20	50	66	−16	54
17	Yeovil Town	46	14	12	20	59	80	−21	54
18	Scunthorpe United	46	10	22	14	55	59	−4	52
19	Walsall	46	10	20	16	51	57	−6	50
20	Leyton Orient	46	13	11	22	48	75	−27	50
21	Wycombe Wanderers  (R)	46	11	10	25	65	88	−23	43	Relegation to the Football League Two
22	Chesterfield  (R)	46	10	12	24	56	81	−25	42
23	Exeter City  (R)	46	10	12	24	46	75	−29	42
24	Rochdale  (R)	46	8	14	24	47	81	−34	38

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Leading goalscorer: Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield) – 36

League Two

Main article:2011–12 Football League Two

Swindon Town made an immediate return to League One, as Paolo Di Canio won the League Two title in his first season as a manager. Shrewsbury took the runners-up spot, going the entire season unbeaten at home and earning veteran manager Graham Turner his second promotion with the club 33 years after his first. Crawley Town were the third automatically promoted team, and earned their second successive promotion. Despite the resignation of legendary manager Dario Gradi early in the season, Crewe Alexandra rallied under new manager Steve Davis and won promotion via the play-offs.

Macclesfield Town dropped out of the Football League after fifteen years, ultimately being undone by a horrific second half of the season in which they didn't win a single game after the turn of the year. Hereford United suffered their second relegation from the League on the last day of the season, with Barnet securing last-day survival for the third season in a row.

Joining the League for the following season were newcomers Fleetwood Town, and York City, who returned to the League after an eight-year absence.

Template:2011–12 Football League Two table

Leading goalscorers: Jack Midson (AFC Wimbledon), Izale McLeod (Barnet), Lewis Grabban (Rotherham United), and Adebayo Akinfenwa (Northampton Town) – 18

Managerial changes

Name	Club	Date of departure	Replacement	Date of appointment
Peter Jackson	Bradford City	25 August 2011	Phil Parkinson	29 August 2011
Peter Reid	Plymouth Argyle	18 September 2011	Carl Fletcher	1 November 2011
Sean O'Driscoll	Doncaster Rovers	23 September 2011	Dean Saunders	23 September 2011
Steve McClaren	Nottingham Forest	2 October 2011	Steve Cotterill	14 October 2011
Keith Millen	Bristol City	3 October 2011	Derek McInnes	19 October 2011
Steve Cotterill	Portsmouth	14 October 2011	Michael Appleton	10 November 2011
Sven-Göran Eriksson	Leicester City	24 October 2011	Nigel Pearson	15 November 2011
Dario Gradi	Crewe Alexanda	10 November 2011	Steve Davis	10 November 2011
Gary Johnson	Northampton Town	14 November 2011	Adrian Boothroyd	30 November 2011
Nigel Pearson	Hull City	15 November 2011	Nick Barmby	10 January 2012
Steve Bruce	Sunderland	30 November 2011	Martin O'Neill	3 December 2011
Mick Wadsworth	Hartlepool United	6 December 2011	Neale Cooper	28 December 2011
Phil Brown	Preston North End	14 December 2011	Graham Westley	13 January 2012
Steve Eyre	Rochdale	19 December 2011	John Coleman	24 January 2012
Paul Buckle	Bristol Rovers	4 January 2012	Mark McGhee	18 January 2012
Neil Warnock	Queens Park Rangers	8 January 2012	Mark Hughes	10 January 2012
Terry Skiverton	Yeovil Town	9 January 2012	Gary Johnson	9 January 2012
Graham Westley	Stevenage	13 January 2012	Gary Smith	25 January 2012
John Coleman	Accrington Stanley	24 January 2012	Paul Cook	13 February 2012
Simon Grayson	Leeds United	1 February 2012	Neil Warnock	18 February 2012
Mick McCarthy	Wolverhampton Wanderers	13 February 2012	Terry Connor	24 February 2012
Lee Clark	Huddersfield Town	16 February 2012	Simon Grayson	20 February 2012
Martin Allen	Notts County	18 February 2012	Keith Curle	20 February 2012
Gary Megson	Sheffield Wednesday	29 February 2012	Dave Jones	1 March 2012
André Villas-Boas	Chelsea	4 March 2012	Roberto Di Matteo	4 March 2012
Les Parry	Tranmere Rovers	4 March 2012	Ronnie Moore	4 March 2012
Jamie Pitman	Hereford United	5 March 2012	Richard O'Kelly	5 March 2012
Paul Peschisolido	Burton Albion	17 March 2012	Gary Rowett	10 May 2012
Gary Simpson	Macclesfield Town	18 March 2012	Brian Horton	19 March 2012
Andy Scott	Rotherham United	19 March 2012	Steve Evans	9 April 2012
Lee Bradbury	Bournemouth	25 March 2012	Paul Groves	11 May 2012
Steve Evans	Crawley Town	9 April 2012	Sean O'Driscoll	16 May 2012
Lawrie Sanchez	Barnet	16 April 2012	Martin Allen	16 April 2012
Brian Horton	Macclesfield Town	30 April 2012	Steve King	21 May 2012
Nick Barmby	Hull City	8 May 2012	Steve Bruce	8 June 2012
Andy Hessenthaler	Gillingham	8 May 2012	Martin Allen	5 July 2012
Terry Connor	Wolverhampton Wanderers	11 May 2012	Ståle Solbakken	1 July 2012
Richard O'Kelly	Hereford United	12 May 2012	Martin Foyle	30 May 2012
Roy Hodgson	West Bromwich Albion	14 May 2012	Steve Clarke	8 June 2012
Alex McLeish	Aston Villa	14 May 2012	Paul Lambert	2 June 2012
Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	16 May 2012	Brendan Rodgers	30 May 2012
Martin Allen	Barnet	25 May 2012	Mark Robson	11 June 2012
Brendan Rodgers	Swansea City	30 May 2012	Michael Laudrup	15 June 2012
Paul Lambert	Norwich City	2 June 2012	Chris Hughton	7 June 2012
Chris Hughton	Birmingham City	7 June 2012	Lee Clark	26 June 2012
Harry Redknapp	Tottenham Hotspur	13 June 2012	Andre Villas Boas	3 July 2012

2011–12 in English football
FA competitions
FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final) · Community Shield · FA Trophy (Final)
League cups
Football League Cup (Final) · Football League Trophy (Final) ·
Premier and Football League
Premier League · Football League (Championship · League One · League Two)
Football Conference
Football Conference (Premier · North · South)
European competitions
Champions League (Final) · Europa League (Final)
National teams
UEFA Euro 2012 qualification (Group G)
Other
Summer 2011 transfers · Winter 2011–12 transfers · Summer 2012 transfers
2010-11                                                        2012-13

Template:2011–12 in European football (UEFA)