The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The 2011–12 fixtures were announced on 17 June 2011 at 9:00 BST.[2] The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012. Manchester City won their first league title since 1968, beating Queens Park Rangers 3–2 on the final day of the season with a last-minute goal from Sergio Agüero. The title was City's first Premier League success, making them the fifth club to win the Premier League in its twenty-year history.[3] It was the first time the Premier League had been won on goal difference and the first time a previously relegated club in the Premier League had won the title.
The league was contested by 20 teams, seventeen returning from the 2010–11 season and three promoted from the Football League Championship. Championship winners Queens Park Rangers and runners-up Norwich City gained automatic promotion whilst Swansea City gained promotion through the Football League Championship play-offs beating Reading 4–2 in May 2011. All three promoted clubs avoided relegation. The season was voted as the greatest Premier League season in the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards.[4]
Manchester City won the title in a tense finale, their first championship since 1968. Going into the final matches, which were played simultaneously, City were top of the league, ahead of their local rivals Manchester Unitedongoal difference. However, a Wayne Rooney goal away to Sunderland gave United the advantage. A 39th minute goal from Pablo Zabaleta, his first of the season, put City back on top at half time. In a dramatic second half Djibril Cissé equalised for Queens Park Rangers in the 48th minute. Shortly after, Joey Barton of QPR was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tévez; on his way off the pitch, he kicked Sergio Agüero, attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany and squared up to Mario Balotelli. Despite the numerical advantage, City went behind after Jamie Mackie gave QPR the lead in the 66th minute. Edin Džeko equalised for City in the 92nd minute and it appeared that Manchester United would win the title with a victory over Sunderland. In a frantic end to the Manchester City match, Sergio Agüero scored the winner in the 94th minute to clinch the title on goal difference.[5][6]
Elsewhere in the league, QPR avoided relegation, despite losing to Manchester City; Bolton Wanderers could only draw at Stoke City, failing to overtake QPR, and therefore joining Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in being relegated to the Championship. For the second time in the Premier League's history, none of the three clubs promoted from the Championship in the previous season were relegated at the end of the season with the other two teams, Swansea City and Norwich City, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. The last time all three newly-promoted teams stayed up (2001-02), Blackburn and Bolton were two of those teams.
Arsenal finished third to join Manchester City and Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.[7] Tottenham Hotspur finished in the fourth and final Champions League slot but missed out on qualification for the competition because Chelsea's victory in the 2012 Champions League Final automatically entitles them to defend their title in the 2012-13 tournament at the expense of the lowest ranked team that would otherwise qualify for the competition through league position. This is the first time that this rule has been implemented in the Premier League, having been introduced by UEFA after Liverpool's controversial qualification for the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League. This consequently marked the first time that the club finishing fourth in the Premier League had not qualified for the tournament since the fourth qualifying spot was introduced in the 2001-02 season. Newcastle United finished fifth and qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.[8] Everton finished 7th, just above local rivals Liverpool. Despite finishing above them for the first time in seven years, it was Liverpool who claimed the final Europa League slot, by virtue of winning the 2011–12 Football League Cup.[9]
The teams ending the 2010–11 season in the bottom three places of the table were relegated to the 2011–12 Football League Championship. West Ham United finished in last place, ending the East London side's six-year tenure in the league. Blackpool and Birmingham City both joined them in relegation, following dramatic games on the last day of the season.
Queens Park Rangers as 2010–11 Football League Championship winners and runners-up Norwich City were directly promoted at the end of the season. Queens Park Rangers appeared in the Premier League for the first time in fifteen years, while Norwich City returned after a six-year absence and two successive promotions, becoming the first team since Manchester City to do so in eleven years. The last team to be promoted was decided by the Championship play-off final on 30 May 2011, where Swansea City defeated Reading 4–2 to become the first Welsh-based team to enter the Premier League.[10][11]
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity[12] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | London | Emirates Stadium | 60,361 |
| Aston Villa | Birmingham | Villa Park | 42,785 |
| Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn | Ewood Park | 31,154 |
| Bolton Wanderers | Bolton | Reebok Stadium | 28,100 |
| Chelsea | London | Stamford Bridge | 42,449 |
| Everton | Liverpool | Goodison Park | 40,157 |
| Fulham | London | Craven Cottage | 25,700 |
| Liverpool | Liverpool | Anfield | 45,276 |
| Manchester City | Manchester | Etihad Stadium[13] | 47,405 |
| Manchester United | Manchester | Old Trafford | 75,811 |
| Newcastle United | Newcastle upon Tyne | Sports Direct Arena1 | 52,409 |
| Norwich City | Norwich | Carrow Road | 27,183 |
| Queens Park Rangers | London | Loftus Road | 18,439 |
| Stoke City | Stoke-on-Trent | Britannia Stadium | 27,740 |
| Sunderland | Sunderland | Stadium of Light | 49,000 |
| Swansea City | Swansea | Liberty Stadium | 20,520 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | London | White Hart Lane | 36,230 |
| West Bromwich Albion | West Bromwich | The Hawthorns | 27,877 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wigan | DW Stadium | 25,133 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Wolverhampton | Molineux Stadium | 27,8282 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
In addition, Nike will have a new design for their match ball (white from August to October and March to May; high-visibility yellow from November through February) called Seitiro, featuring a modified flame design.[24]
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position at departure | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea |  Carlo Ancelotti
|
Sacked | 22 May 2011[25] | Pre-season |  André Villas-Boas
|
22 June 2011[26] |
| Aston Villa |  Gérard Houllier
|
Resigned on grounds of ill health | 1 June 2011[27] |  Alex McLeish
|
17 June 2011[28] | |
| Fulham |  Mark Hughes
|
Resigned | 2 June 2011[29] |  Martin Jol
|
7 June 2011[30] | |
| Sunderland |  Steve Bruce
|
Sacked | 30 November 2011[31] | 16th |  Martin O'Neill
|
3 December 2011[32] |
| Queens Park Rangers | Neil Warnock
|
8 January 2012[33] | 17th | Mark Hughes
|
10 January 2012[34] | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers |  Mick McCarthy
|
13 February 2012[35] | 18th | Terry Connor (interim)
|
24 February 2012[36] | |
| Chelsea | André Villas-Boas
|
4 March 2012[37] | 5th | Roberto Di Matteo (interim)
|
4 March 2012[37] |
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Top scorers
|
Assists
|
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Edin Džeko4 |
Manchester City | Tottenham Hotspur | 5–1[40] | 28 August 2011 |
| Wayne Rooney |
Manchester United | Arsenal | 8–2[41] | 28 August 2011 |
 Sergio Agüero |
Manchester City | Wigan Athletic | 3–0[42] | 10 September 2011 |
| Wayne Rooney |
Manchester United | Bolton Wanderers | 5–0[43] | 10 September 2011 |
 Demba Ba |
Newcastle United | Blackburn Rovers | 3–1[44] | 24 September 2011 |
| Frank Lampard |
Chelsea | Bolton Wanderers | 5–1[45] | 2 October 2011 |
| Andrew Johnson |
Fulham | Queens Park Rangers | 6–0[46] | 2 October 2011 |
| Robin van Persie |
Arsenal | Chelsea | 5–3[47] | 29 October 2011 |
| Demba Ba |
Newcastle United | Stoke City | 3–1[48] | 31 October 2011 |
 Yakubu 4 |
Blackburn Rovers | Swansea City | 4–2[49] | 3 December 2011 |
 Dimitar Berbatov |
Manchester United | Wigan Athletic | 5–0[50] | 26 December 2011 |
 Clint Dempsey |
Fulham | Newcastle United | 5–2[51] | 21 January 2012 |
| Robin van Persie |
Arsenal | Blackburn Rovers | 7–1[52] | 4 February 2012 |
| Peter Odemwingie |
West Bromwich Albion | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5–1[53] | 12 February 2012 |
 Pavel Pogrebnyak |
Fulham | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 5–0[54] | 4 March 2012 |
| Steven Gerrard |
Liverpool | Everton | 3–0[55] | 13 March 2012 |
| Carlos Tévez |
Manchester City | Norwich City | 6–1[56] | 14 April 2012 |
 Luis Suárez |
Liverpool | Norwich City | 3–0[57] | 28 April 2012 |
 Fernando Torres |
Chelsea | Queens Park Rangers | 6–1[58] | 29 April 2012 |
Marc Albrighton of Aston Villa, on 21 December in a 2–1 loss to Arsenal at Villa Park, was officially credited with the 20,000th goal scored since the formation of the Premier League in 1992. He was given £20,000 from league sponsor Barclays to donate to a charity of the player's choice; in this case, the recipient was Acorns Children's Hospice, who used to sponsor Aston Villa.[63]
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
| August[64][65] | Sir Alex Ferguson
|
Manchester United | Edin Džeko
|
Manchester City |
| September[66][67] | Harry Redknapp
|
Tottenham Hotspur | David Silva
|
Manchester City |
| October[68] | Roberto Mancini
|
Manchester City | Robin van Persie
|
Arsenal |
| November[69] | Harry Redknapp
|
Tottenham Hotspur | Scott Parker
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
| December[70] | Martin O'Neill
|
Sunderland | Demba Ba
|
Newcastle United |
| January[71][72] | Brendan Rodgers
|
Swansea City | Gareth Bale
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
| February[73] | Arsène Wenger
|
Arsenal | Peter Odemwingie
|
West Bromwich Albion |
| March[74][75] | Owen Coyle
|
Bolton Wanderers |  Gylfi Sigurðsson
|
Swansea City |
| April[76] | Roberto Martínez
|
Wigan Athletic |  Nikica Jelavić
|
Everton |
The PFA Players' Player of the Year was awarded to Robin van Persie.[77]
The FWA Footballer of the Year was also awarded to Robin van Persie.[78]
|
The PFA Young Player of the Year was awarded to Kyle Walker.[80]
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart (Manchester City)
Defence: Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United), Leighton Baines (Everton)
Midfield: David Silva, Yaya Touré (both Manchester City), Scott Parker, Gareth Bale (both Tottenham Hotspur)
Attack: Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
The Barclays Player of the Season award was won by Vincent Kompany of Manchester City.[81]
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew, 50, received the Premier League Manager of the Season.[81] Pardew was the first Newcastle manager to receive the award, and only the second Englishman after Harry Redknapp to do so.
The Barclays Golden Boot award went to Robin van Persie, who scored 30 goals throughout the season.
The Barclays Golden Glove award was won by Joe Hart of Manchester City, who achieved 17 clean sheets.
The Goal of the Season award was given to Papiss Cissé of Newcastle United for his second goal in their 2–0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, becoming the first player for the club to win the award since its inception.
Swansea City won the Fair Play Award after finishing the 2011–12 Premier League with the best behaviour.[82]
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