The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th season of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012 with

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

sealing their third league title – their first since 1968 – after beating

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

3-2 on the last day. The title was City's first Premier League success, making them the fifth club to win the Premier League in its 20-year history. City finished level on 89 points with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, but they had a superior

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

to their local rivals, making it the first and only time the Premier League had been won on goal difference. The league was contested by 20 teams, 17 returning from the 2010–11 season and three promoted from the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

winners Queens Park Rangers and runners-up

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

gained automatic promotion whilst

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

gained promotion through the

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

beating

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

4–2 in May 2011, becoming the first non-English team to play in the Premier League. All three promoted clubs avoided relegation for the first time since the 2001–02 campaign. The season was voted as the greatest Premier League season in the

Premier League 20 Seasons Awards The Premier League 20 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 20 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England. The awards celeb ...

Season summary

won the title in a tense finale, their first championship since

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. City's local rivals

were the early pace-setters, leading the table until October, when they drew at Liverpool, allowing Manchester City to overtake them. The following week, City increased their lead to five points with a shock 6–1 away victory at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, which they maintained until December, when they dropped points and their lead narrowed, but City remained in front until March, when a defeat at

saw them drop behind United. City's bad form continued for the next month while United went on a winning run, so that with six matches remaining United were eight points ahead of City and the title seemingly decided. However, United then faltered with a defeat and a draw in their next three games, while City won all three to narrow the gap to three points. City then beat United 1–0 at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

to move back ahead of United on goal difference. Both sides won their penultimate matches to maintain the status quo. Going into the final matches, which were played simultaneously, City were top of the league, ahead of Manchester United on

, while level on 86 points. However, a

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

goal away to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

gave United the advantage. A 39th-minute goal from

Pablo Zabaleta Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player ...

, his first of the season, put City back on top at half time. In a dramatic second half

Djibril Cissé Djibril Cissé (born 12 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. Cissé started his career at his boyhood club Arles-Avignon in 1989, before playing for the youth teams at Nîmes and Auxerre. Cissé sp ...

equalised for

in the 48th minute. Shortly after,

Joey Barton Joseph Anthony Barton (born 2 September 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Barton made 269 appearances in the Premier League, including 130 for Manchester City; he was most recentl ...

of QPR was sent off for elbowing

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...

; on his way off the pitch, he kicked

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

, attempted to headbutt

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

and squared up to

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa. Balotelli started his ...

. Despite the numerical advantage, City went behind after

Jamie Mackie James Charles Mackie (born 22 September 1985) is a former Scotland international footballer who played as a striker or winger, most notably for Queens Park Rangers, Plymouth Argyle, and Oxford United. Mackie began his career at Wimbledon, pr ...

gave QPR the lead in the 66th minute. As time wound down in both matches, it appeared that Manchester United would win the title with their victory over Sunderland. But

Edin Džeko Edin Džeko (; born 17 March 1986) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains both Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team. He is the all-time top goalscorer and most capped ...

equalised for City in the 92nd minute. While United players waited on the field at Sunderland for a possible trophy presentation, Manchester City's Sergio Agüero scored the title clincher in the 94th minute to win the league for City and became the only team to win the Premier League on goal difference. The 6-1 result was even more important than it seemed at the time because if the score had been 2-1, then both teams would have ended with identical records (W D L GF GA GD Pts) which by Premier League rules would have meant a play-off game at a neutral ground to decide the title. For most of the season,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

were in third place, a couple of points behind the Manchester clubs, and there was much speculation as to whether Tottenham could mount a title challenge. However, from late February onward their season collapsed, starting with a 5–2 defeat to local rivals Arsenal, whom they had been 10 points ahead of before the game, and just four wins in their last 13 games condemned Tottenham to finishing a point below Arsenal, who finished third to join Manchester City and Manchester United in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, Arsenal completed a strong recovery from a disastrous start to the season including their 8–2 defeat at Manchester United in August. Tottenham finished in the fourth but missed out on qualification for the Champions League because Chelsea's victory in the 2012 Champions League final automatically entitled 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 was the first time that this rule had 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 Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

finished fifth and qualified for the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Are ...

. Everton finished 7th, just above local rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. 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 The 2011–12 Football League Cup (known as the Carling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 52nd season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. Birmingham City w ...

. At the bottom of the league,

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

were the first to be relegated on 22 April, following a 2–0 loss to eventual champions Manchester City.

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

would soon follow on 7 May after a 1–0 loss to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. On the final day of the season,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

needed a win against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, and for QPR to lose to guarantee their survival. However, they failed to beat Stoke, drawing 2–2, and were relegated, with QPR avoiding the drop, despite losing to Manchester City. 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,

and

, 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. Liverpool's

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's

Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French former professional footballer. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. He was named in the P ...

and was given an eight-match ban.

Teams

Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the

. The promoted teams were

and

, returning to the top flight after absences of fifteen, six and twenty-eight years respectively. This was also Swansea City's first season in the Premier League. This was the first season where a Welsh team competed in the top flight of English football since the 1982–83 season and the first season in the Premier League era where a Welsh team competed. They replaced

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, who were relegated to the

after their top-flight spells of two, one and six years respectively.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. * ¹ Following Virgin Money's acquisition of Northern Rock on 1 January 2012, Virgin Money started to appear on the team's kits from 4 January 2012. * ² Malaysia Airlines appeared on Queens Park Rangers' home kit, with Air Asia appearing on their two away kits. * ³ Aurasma is a subsidiary of

Autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

*⁴

Stiliyan Petrov Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov ( Bulgarian: Стилиян Альошев Петров, born 5 July 1979) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Petrov joined Celtic from CSKA Sofia in 1999, and won ten trophies ...

was Villa's captain until March, when he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia. Gabriel Agbonlahor was handed the captaincy in Petrov's absence. *⁵

Chris Samba Veijeany Christopher Samba (born 28 March 1984), known as Christopher Samba, is a former professional Association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Born in France, he played for the Congo national foo ...

was previously Blackburn's captain. Following Samba's transfer to

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded in 1991, the club last competed in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2. ...

, Robinson was handed the captaincy. * ⁶On 7 December 2011, Vidić twisted his knee during United's Champions League clash at Basel and left the field on a stretcher. Vidić missed the rest of the season and

assumed the captaincy of Manchester United. * ⁷

ran sponsorless until 12 September 2011 In addition, Nike had 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.

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

for Liverpool against Sunderland (''13 August 2011'') *Last goal of the season:

for Manchester City against Queens Park Rangers ('' 13 May 2012''). *Fastest goal of the season: 24 seconds –

Andrea Orlandi Andrea Orlandi Stabilin (born 3 August 1984) is a Spanish former footballer and who played as a winger or an attacking midfielder. He currently works as a scout as well as a pundit for LaLiga+ and Spanish outlet La Media Inglesa, specialize ...

for Swansea City against Wolverhampton Wanderers (''28 April 2012'') *Largest winning margin: 6 goals ** Manchester United 8–2 Arsenal (''28 August 2011'') **Fulham 6–0 Queens Park Rangers (''2 October 2011'') **Arsenal 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (''4 February 2012'') *Highest scoring game: 10 goals **Manchester United 8–2 Arsenal (''28 August 2011'') *Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 8 goals **Manchester United 8–2 Arsenal (''28 August 2011'') *Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals **Blackburn Rovers 4–3 Arsenal (''17 September 2011'') **Chelsea 3–5 Arsenal (''29 October 2011'')

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

* ⁴ Player scored four goals

20,000th goal

On 21 December in a 2–1 loss to Arsenal at Villa Park, Marc Albrighton of Aston Villa 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 his choice. He chose

Acorns Children's Hospice Acorns Children's Hospice Trust is a registered charity, offering a network of palliative care and support to life-limited and life-threatened children and their families across the West Midlands region and part of South West England. Acorns has ...

, who used to sponsor Aston Villa.

Clean sheets

Player

Club

*Most

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

: 17 **Manchester City *Fewest clean sheets: 3 **Blackburn Rovers **Bolton Wanderers **Norwich City

Discipline

Club

*Worst overall disciplinary record (1 point per yellow card, 2 points per red card): ** Chelsea: 77 points (69 yellow & 4 red cards) *Best overall disciplinary record: ** Swansea City: 43 points (39 yellow & 2 red cards) *Most yellow cards: 69 **Chelsea *Most red cards: 9 **Queens Park Rangers

Player

*Most yellow cards: 10 **

(Queens Park Rangers) **

Lee Cattermole Lee Barry Cattermole (born 21 March 1988) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. An England youth product, Cattermole has earned a reputation as a tough-tackling midfielder due to his lengthy disciplin ...

(Sunderland) ** Jason Lowe (Blackburn Rovers) **

Alex Song Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong (born 9 September 1987), better known as Alex Song, is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a central or defensive midfielder. He also played as a central defender. Originally a utility play ...

(Arsenal) *Most red cards: 2 **

(Manchester City) **

(Queens Park Rangers) **

(Queens Park Rangers) ** David Wheater (Bolton Wanderers)

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

Premier League Manager of the Season

Newcastle United manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...

, 50, received the

Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association football award presented to managers in England. It recognises the most outstanding manager in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the le ...

. Pardew was the first Newcastle manager to receive the award, and only the second Englishman after

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Portsmouth F.C., ...

to do so.

Premier League Player of the Season

The

Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by t ...

award was won by

of Manchester City.

Premier League Goal of the season

The Goal of the Season award was given to

Papiss Cissé Papiss Demba Cissé (; born 3 June 1985) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for UAE Third Division League side Al Qabila. Formerly of SC Freiburg, he once held the record of most goals scored by an African player ...

of Newcastle United for his second goal in their 2–0 victory against Chelsea at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

on 28 April, becoming the first player for the club to win the award since its inception.

PFA Players' Player of the Year

The

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

was awarded to

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

. The other nominees were;

Sergio Aguero Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * Sergio, the mascot for the Old Orchard Beach Surge baseball team * ''Sergio'', a 2009 documentary film about ...

Scott Parker Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who currently manages Premier League club Burnley. Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and was loaned to Norwich City, before ...

David Silva David Josué Jiménez Silva (born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played mainly as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central or an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder and o ...

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury Town in the Football Conference and League Two. In ...

and

PFA Team of the Year

PFA Young Player of the Year

The

PFA Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the ...

was awarded to

Kyle Walker Kyle Andrew Walker (born 28 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club AC Milan, on loan from club Manchester City, and the England national team. Walker started his career at his boyhood club Sheffi ...

FWA Footballer of the Year

The

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

was also awarded to Robin van Persie.

Premier League Golden Boot

The

Premier League Golden Boot The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the Carling Golden Boot from 1994 to 2001, the Barclaycard Golden Boot from ...

award went to

, who scored 30 goals.

Premier League Golden Glove

The

Premier League Golden Glove The Premier League Golden Glove is an annual association football award presented to the goalkeeper who has kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League. In football a team's defence or goalkeeper may be said to "keep a clean sheet" if they ...

award was won by

of Manchester City, who achieved 17 clean sheets.

Premier League Fair Play Award

Swansea City won the Premier League Fair Play Award after finishing the 2011–12 Premier League top of the Fair Play Table. The award for best behaved fans went to

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Attendances

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Premier League Premier League seasons

Eng Eng or ENG may refer to: Language and linguistics * Eng (letter), Ŋ ŋ * En with descender, Ң ң * eng, ISO 639-3 and ISO 639-2 code for English language * Velar nasal, a phoneme People * Eng (name), a given name and surname in various cu ...