The 2010–11 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The 2010–11 fixtures were released on 17 June 2010 at 09:00 BST. The season began on 14 August 2010, and ended on 22 May 2011. Chelsea were the defending champions.
Manchester United secured the title with a 1–1 draw away to Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011. This was their nineteenth English league title, breaking a tie with Liverpool which had stood since Manchester United won their eighteenth title in 2009. Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal all secured a berth for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, while Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League via league position.
An independent commission later found that Manchester City breached Premier League financial rules during this season, part of a pattern of breaches spanning 2009-2018.
Relegation On 15 May 2011, West Ham United were the first team to be relegated to the Championship, following a 3–2 defeat away to Wigan Athletic. Two more relegation spots were to be confirmed going into the final day of the season, with five teams (Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Blackpool, and Wigan Athletic) all at threat of the drop. Blackburn secured their top flight status with a 3–2 away win over Wolves. Blackpool were relegated after losing 4–2 to champions Manchester United at Old Trafford, despite having led at one point. Birmingham City were also down after Roman Pavlyuchenko scored an injury-time winner for Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Both of these results allowed Wolves to avoid the drop by one point, despite their loss to Blackburn, while Wigan, who were in the bottom three prior to kick-off, extended their Premier League stay to seven consecutive seasons after a 1–0 win away at Stoke City.
Rule changes The Premier League introduced a cap on the number of players in a squad. From this season onwards, clubs had to declare a squad of no more than 25 players when the summer transfer window shuts, and then again at the end of the January transfer window. Players aged 21 and under could be selected without being registered in the 25.
Also being introduced this season was the "home grown players" rule, which aims to encourage the development of young footballers at Premier League clubs. The new rule required clubs to name at least eight players in their squad of 25 players that have been registered domestically for a minimum of three seasons prior to their 21st birthday.
All of the Premier League teams submitted their 25-man squads on 1 September 2010 deadline.
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion (both teams returning after a season's absence), and Blackpool (returning after a thirty-nine-year absence). This was also Blackpool's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Burnley, Hull City and Portsmouth, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of one, two and seven years respectively.
Stadiums and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium Capacity1 Arsenal London Emirates Stadium Aston Villa Birmingham Villa Park Birmingham City Birmingham St Andrew's Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park Blackpool Blackpool Bloomfield Road Bolton Wanderers Bolton Reebok Stadium Chelsea London Stamford Bridge Everton Liverpool Goodison Park Fulham London Craven Cottage Liverpool Liverpool Anfield Manchester City Manchester City of Manchester Stadium Manchester United Manchester Old Trafford Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park Stoke City Stoke-on-Trent Britannia Stadium Sunderland Sunderland Stadium of Light Tottenham Hotspur London White Hart Lane West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich The Hawthorns West Ham United London Boleyn Ground Wigan Athletic Wigan DW Stadium Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Molineux Stadium 1 Correct as of start of 2010–11 Premier League season
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal NikeEmiratesAston Villa NikeFxProBirmingham City XtepF&C InvestmentsBlackburn Rovers UmbroCrown PaintsBlackpool CarbriniWonga.comBolton Wanderers Reebok188BETChelsea AdidasSamsungEverton Le Coq SportifChang BeerFulham KappaFxProLiverpool AdidasStandard CharteredManchester City UmbroEtihad AirwaysManchester United NikeAonNewcastle United PumaNorthern RockStoke City AdidasBritanniaSunderland UmbroTombolaTottenham Hotspur PumaAutonomyWest Bromwich Albion UmbroHomeserveWest Ham United (caretaker) MacronSBOBETWigan Athletic MiFit188BETWolverhampton Wanderers BURRDASportingbet
Nike produced a new match ball, the Nike Total 90 Tracer, which was electric blue, black and white during the autumn and spring. A high-visibility version in yellow was released for the winter.Nike T90 TRACER 10/11 Match Ball footballshirtculture.com Additionally, Umbro provided officials with new kits in black, lime green, yellow, red and cyan blue for the season. Tune Ventures, parent company of AirAsia, took over as sponsor of the referee kits for the next three seasons., football-marketing.com, 6 August 2010
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentWest Ham United Gianfranco ZolaSacked 11 May 2010 Pre-season Avram Grant3 June 2010Liverpool Rafael BenítezMutual agreement3 June 2010 Roy Hodgson1 July 2010Fulham Roy HodgsonSigned by Liverpool1 July 2010 Mark Hughes29 July 2010Aston Villa Martin O'NeillResigned9 August 2010 Gérard Houllier8 September 2010Newcastle United Chris Hughton Sacked6 December 201011th Alan Pardew9 December 2010Blackburn Rovers Sam Allardyce13 December 201013th Steve Kean22 December 2010Liverpool Roy HodgsonMutual consent8 January 201112th Kenny Dalglish8 January 2011West Bromwich Albion Roberto Di Matteo Sacked6 February 201116th Roy Hodgson11 February 2011West Ham United Avram Grant15 May 201120th (relegated) (caretaker)15 May 2011
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring First goal of the season: Stewart Downing for Aston Villa against West Ham United (14 August 2010) Fastest goal of the season: 30 seconds – Maxi Rodríguez for Liverpool against Fulham (9 May 2011) Widest winning margin: 6 goals Chelsea 6–0 West Bromwich Albion (14 August 2010) Arsenal 6–0 Blackpool (21 August 2010) Wigan Athletic 0–6 Chelsea (21 August 2010) Newcastle United 6–0 Aston Villa (22 August 2010) Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (27 November 2010) Highest scoring game: 8 goals Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (27 November 2010) Everton 5–3 Blackpool (5 February 2011) Newcastle United 4–4 Arsenal (5 February 2011) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 7 goals – Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (27 November 2010) Fewest games failed to score in: 5 – Manchester United Most games failed to score in: 13 Stoke City West Ham United Wigan Athletic
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Dimitar Berbatov Manchester United20 Carlos TevezManchester City3 Robin van PersieArsenal184 Darren BentSunderland/Aston Villa175 Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich Albion156 DJ CampbellBlackpool13 Andy CarrollNewcastle/Liverpool Javier HernándezManchester United Dirk KuytLiverpool Florent MaloudaChelsea Rafael van der VaartTottenham Hotspur
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Chelsea West Bromwich Albion 6–0 Arsenal Blackpool 6–0 Newcastle United Aston Villa 6–0 Manchester United Liverpool 3–2 Newcastle United Sunderland 5–1 5 Manchester United Blackburn Rovers 7–1 Manchester City Aston Villa 4–0 Newcastle United West Ham United 5–0 Manchester United Birmingham City 5–0 Arsenal Wigan Athletic 3–0 Manchester City West Bromwich Albion 3–0 4 Everton Blackpool 5–3 Liverpool Manchester United 3–1 Manchester United West Ham United 4–2 Liverpool Birmingham City 5–0 Fulham 5–2 West Bromwich Albion Newcastle United 3–3
4 Player scored four goals 5 Player scored five goals
Clean sheets
Player
RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Joe HartManchester City182 Petr ČechChelsea153 Pepe ReinaLiverpool14 Edwin van der SarManchester United5 Mark SchwarzerFulham116 Ben FosterBirmingham City9 Tim HowardEverton8 Asmir BegovicStoke City8 Simon MignoletSunderland Paul RobinsonBlackburn Rovers
Club Most clean sheets: 18 – Manchester City Fewest clean sheets: 2 – West Bromwich Albion
Discipline
Club Worst overall disciplinary record (1 point per yellow card, 3 points per red card): Manchester City – 89 points (74 yellow & 5 red cards) Best overall disciplinary record: Blackpool – 53 points (47 yellow & 2 red cards) Most yellow cards: 75 – Newcastle United Most red cards: 7 – West Bromwich Albion
Player Most yellow cards: 14 – Cheick Tioté (Newcastle United) Most red cards: 2 Lee Cattermole (Sunderland) Craig Gardner (Birmingham City) Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) Youssouf Mulumbu (West Bromwich Albion) Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) Most fouls: 115 – Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers)
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthReferenceManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Carlo AncelottiChelsea Paul ScholesManchester UnitedSeptember Roberto Di MatteoWest Bromwich Albion Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich AlbionOctober David MoyesEverton Rafael van der VaartTottenham HotspurNovember Owen CoyleBolton Wanderers Johan ElmanderBolton WanderersDecember Roberto ManciniManchester City Samir NasriArsenalJanuary Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Dimitar BerbatovManchester UnitedFebruary Arsène WengerArsenal Scott ParkerWest Ham UnitedMarch Carlo Ancelotti Chelsea David LuizChelseaApril Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich Albion
Annual awards Award Winner Club Premier League Manager of the Season Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United Premier League Player of the Season Nemanja Vidić Manchester United PFA Players' Player of the Year Gareth Bale Tottenham Hotspur PFA Young Player of the Year Jack Wilshere Arsenal FWA Footballer of the Year Scott Parker West Ham United PFA Fans' Player of the Year Raul Meireles Liverpool PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United) Defence Ashley Cole (Chelsea) Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United) Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) Midfield Nani (Manchester United) Samir Nasri (Arsenal) Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) Attack Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United)
Attendances
References