The 2010–11 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the league under its current name and nineteenth season under its current league division format. It started on 6 August 2010 and concluded on 7 May 2011, with the resultant play-offs concluding with the final on 30 May.
Queens Park Rangers secured the Championship title on 30 April 2011, ending their 15-year hiatus from the Premier League, while Norwich City secured the second automatic promotion spot two days later, ending a six-year absence from the top flight. Swansea City won the play-off final to take the final promotion place.
Preston North End, Scunthorpe United and Sheffield United were relegated to League One.
Changes from last season
Team changes
From Championship Promoted to Premier League: Newcastle United West Bromwich Albion Blackpool
Relegated to League One: Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Sheffield Wednesday
To Championship Relegated from Premier League: Burnley Hull City Portsmouth
Promoted from League One: Norwich City Leeds United Millwall
Rule changes
Off-field rules New financial reporting rules see transfer embargoes imposed on those clubs which fail to lodge their accounts with the Football League, at the same time they are required by Companies House. The Football League's fit and proper person test was renamed the Director's Test to ensure continuity with other football bodies.
Sponsorship changes After Coca-Cola's sponsorship contract expired and was not renewed, Npower signed a three-year contract to become the Football League's official partner. The Coca-Cola Player of the Month and Coca-Cola Manager of the Month awards are therefore now known as the Npower Player of the Month and the Npower Manager of the Month award respectively.
Team overview
Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Barnsley Barnsley Oakwell 23,009 Bristol City Bristol Ashton Gate 21,497 Burnley Burnley Turf Moor 22,546 Cardiff City Cardiff Cardiff City Stadium 26,828 Coventry City Coventry Ricoh Arena 32,609 Crystal Palace London Selhurst Park 26,309 Derby County Derby Pride Park Stadium 33,597 Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Keepmoat Stadium 15,231 Hull City Kingston upon Hull KC Stadium 25,404 Ipswich Town Ipswich Portman Road 30,311 Leeds United Leeds Elland Road 39,460 Leicester City Leicester King Power Stadium 32,500 Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Riverside Stadium 34,988 Millwall London The Den 20,146 Norwich City Norwich Carrow Road 27,033 Nottingham Forest Nottingham City Ground 30,576 Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,224 Preston North End Preston Deepdale 23,408 Queens Park Rangers London Loftus Road 18,360 Reading Reading Madejski Stadium 24,224 Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe Glanford Park 9,088 Sheffield United Sheffield Bramall Lane 32,702 Swansea City Swansea Liberty Stadium 20,532 Watford Watford Vicarage Road 23,500
Personnel and sponsoring Team Manager Chairman Team captain Kit maker Sponsor Barnsley Mark Robins Patrick Cyrne Jason Shackell Lotto Barnsley Building Society Bristol City Keith Millen Steve Lansdown Louis Carey adidas DAS Burnley Eddie Howe Barry Kilby Graham Alexander Puma Fun88 Cardiff City Dave Jones Chan Tien Ghee Craig Bellamy Puma SBOBET Coventry City Andy Thorn Ken Dulieu Lee Carsley Puma City Link Crystal Palace Dougie Freedman Steve ParishMartin Long Paddy McCarthy Nike GAC Logistics Derby County Nigel Clough Andrew Appleby Robbie Savage adidas buymobiles.net Doncaster Rovers Sean O'Driscoll John Ryan Brian Stock Nike One Call Insurance Hull City Nigel Pearson Assem Allam Andy Dawson adidas Totesport.com Ipswich Town Paul Jewell Marcus Evans David Norris Mitre Marcus Evans Leeds United Simon Grayson Ken Bates Richard Naylor Macron NetFlights.com Leicester City Sven-Göran Eriksson Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Matt Oakley BURRDA King Power Middlesbrough Tony Mowbray Steve Gibson Matthew Bates Adidas Sponsors come on a monthly basis1 Millwall Kenny Jackett John Berylson Paul Robinson Macron CYC Norwich City Paul Lambert Alan Bowkett Grant Holt Xara Aviva Nottingham Forest Billy Davies Nigel Doughty Paul McKenna Umbro Victor Chandler Portsmouth Steve Cotterill Balram Chainrai Aaron Mokoena Kappa Jobsite Preston North End Phil Brown Maurice Lindsay Sean St Ledger Puma Tennent's Lager Queens Park Rangers Neil Warnock Ishan Saksena Adel Taarabt Lotto Gulf Air Reading Brian McDermott John Madejski Ívar Ingimarsson Puma Waitrose Scunthorpe United Alan Knill J. Steven Wharton Cliff Byrne Nike Rainham Steel Sheffield United Micky Adams Kevin McCabe Chris Morgan Macron VisitMalta.com Swansea City Brendan Rodgers Huw Jenkins Garry Monk Umbro 32Red Watford Malky Mackay Graham Taylor John Eustace BURRDA BURRDA, Umbria Televisione
1Middlesbrough's sponsors include: Deepdale Solutions (7 – 30 August), Wiring Services (1–30 September), Ramsdens (1 October – 5 March), Marie Curie Cancer Care (6–8 March)
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Crystal Palace Paul Hart Contract expired 2 May 2010 Pre-season George Burley 17 June 2010 Coventry City Chris Coleman Sacked 4 May 2010 Aidy Boothroyd 20 May 2010 Hull City Iain Dowie Contract expired 9 May 2010 Nigel Pearson 29 June 2010 Portsmouth Avram Grant Resigned 20 May 2010 Steve Cotterill 18 June 2010 Leicester City Nigel Pearson Signed by Hull City 29 June 2010 Paulo Sousa 7 July 2010 Swansea City Paulo Sousa Signed by Leicester City 5 July 2010 Brendan Rodgers 16 July 2010 Bristol City Steve Coppell Resigned 12 August 2010 23rd Keith Millen 12 August 2010 Sheffield United Kevin Blackwell Mutual consent 14 August 2010 21st Gary Speed 17 August 2010 Scunthorpe United Nigel Adkins Signed By Southampton 12 September 2010 15th Ian Baraclough 24 September 2010 Leicester City Paulo Sousa Sacked 1 October 2010 24th Sven-Göran Eriksson 3 October 2010 Middlesbrough Gordon Strachan Resigned 18 October 2010 20th Tony Mowbray 26 October 2010 Sheffield United Gary Speed Signed by Wales 14 December 2010 Micky Adams 30 December 2010 Burnley Brian Laws Sacked 29 December 2010 9th Eddie Howe 14 January 2011 Preston North End Darren Ferguson 29 December 2010 24th Phil Brown 6 January 2011 Crystal Palace George Burley 1 January 2011 23rd Dougie Freedman 12 January 2011 Ipswich Town Roy Keane 7 January 2011 19th Paul Jewell 10 January 2011 Coventry City Aidy Boothroyd 14 March 2011 Andy Thorn 28 April 2011 Scunthorpe United Ian Baraclough 16 March 2011 22nd Alan Knill 31 March 2011
Ownership changes ClubNew ownerPrevious ownerDateCardiff CityDatuk Chan Tien GheePeter Ridsdale27 May 2010Crystal PalaceSteve ParishMartin LongAdministrator7 June 2010Preston North EndTrevor HemmingsDerek Shaw3 June 2010Leicester CityAiyawatt RaksriaksornMilan Mandarić12 August 2010PortsmouthBalram ChainraiAdministrator24 October 2010Hull CityAssem AllamRussell Bartlett17 December 2010
League table
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Swansea City won 3 – 1 on aggregate.
Reading won 3 – 0 on aggregate.
Final
Results The fixtures for the Championship were released on 17 June 2010. The season kick-off was announced for 6 August 2010 and it concluded on 7 May 2011.
Season statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Danny GrahamWatford242 Grant HoltNorwich City21 Shane LongReading214 Luciano BecchioLeeds United19 Adel TaarabtQueens Park Rangers19 Scott SinclairSwansea City197 Jay BothroydCardiff City18 Max GradelLeeds United189 Billy SharpDoncaster Rovers15 Andy KingLeicester City15 Steve MorisonMillwall15
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Adel TaarabtQueens Park Rangers192 Grant HoltNorwich City143 Don CowieWatford134 Lewis McGuganNottingham Forest125 Albert AdomahBristol City11 Craig BellamyCardiff City117 Shane LongReading10 Peter WhittinghamCardiff City1010 Luciano BecchioLeeds United9 Chris BurkeCardiff City9 James CoppingerDoncaster Rovers9 Chris EaglesBurnley9 David FoxNorwich City9 Danny GrahamWatford9 James HenryMillwall9 Wes HoolahanNorwich City9 Keith TreacyPreston North End9
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Chris Iwelumo Burnley Preston North End 4–3 11 September 2010 James Vaughan Crystal Palace Portsmouth 4–1 14 September 2010 James Coppinger Doncaster Rovers Norwich City 3–1 14 September 2010 Jon Parkin Preston North End Leeds United 6–4 28 September 2010 Jonny Howson Leeds United Scunthorpe United 4–1 30 October 2010 Luciano Becchio Leeds United Bristol City 3–1 13 November 2010 Grant Holt Norwich City Ipswich Town 4–1 28 November 2010 Wes Hoolahan Norwich City Sheffield United 4–2 28 December 2010 Jason Puncheon Millwall Crystal Palace 3–0 1 January 2011 Matty Fryatt Hull City Scunthorpe United 5–1 5 February 2011 Connor Wickham Ipswich Town Doncaster Rovers 6–0 15 February 2011 Yakubu Leicester City Middlesbrough 3–3 2 April 2011 Grant Holt Norwich City Scunthorpe United 6–0 2 April 2011 Simeon Jackson Norwich City Scunthorpe United 6–0 2 April 2011 Scott McDonald Middlesbrough Hull City 4–2 23 April 2011 Simeon Jackson Norwich City Derby County 3–2 25 April 2011
Scoring First goal of the season: John Eustace for Watford against Norwich City (6 August 2010) Highest scoring game: 10 goals – Leeds United 4–6 Preston North End (28 September 2010) Most goals scored in a game by one team: 6 goals Millwall 1–6 Watford (18 September 2010) Portsmouth 6–1 Leicester City (24 September 2010) Leeds United 4–6 Preston North End (28 September 2010) Doncaster Rovers 0–6 Ipswich Town (15 February 2011) Norwich City 6–0 Scunthorpe United (2 April 2011) Widest winning margin: 6 goals Doncaster Rovers 0–6 Ipswich Town (15 February 2011) Norwich City 6–0 Scunthorpe United (2 April 2011) Fewest games failed to score in: 5 – Norwich City Most games failed to score in: 21 – Scunthorpe United
Discipline Most yellow cards (club): 86 – Leeds United Most yellow cards (player): 12 Robbie Savage (Derby County) Most red cards (club): 13 – Sheffield United Most red cards (player): 2 Matthew Connolly (Queens Park Rangers) Claude Davis (Crystal Palace) Alan Dunne (Millwall) Marlon King (Coventry City) Shane Lowry (Sheffield United) Dean Moxey (Derby County & Crystal Palace) Ricardo Rocha (Portsmouth) Jamie Ward (Sheffield United & Derby County) Lee Williamson (Sheffield United) Most fouls (club): 554 – Leeds United Most fouls (player): 103 – Grant Holt (Norwich City)
Clean sheets Most clean sheets: 25 – Queens Park Rangers Fewest clean sheets: 4 – Preston North End
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthNotesManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Neil WarnockQueens Park Rangers Adel TaarabtQueens Park RangersSeptember Neil WarnockQueens Park Rangers Jamie MackieQueens Park RangersOctober Dave JonesCardiff City Jay BothroydCardiff CityNovember Keith MillenBristol City James HayterDoncaster RoversDecember Simon GraysonLeeds United Danny GrahamWatfordJanuary Billy DaviesNottingham Forest Richie WellensLeicester CityFebruary Brendan RodgersSwansea City Connor WickhamIpswich TownMarch Malky MackayWatford Ian HarteReadingApril Brian McDermottReading Simeon JacksonNorwich City
Team of the year
{| class="sortable" border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- !class="unsortable" |Position !class="unsortable" width=170px|Name !class="unsortable" |Club |- | GK | Paddy Kenny | Queens Park Rangers |- | RB | Kyle Naughton | Leicester City |- | CB | Wes Morgan | Nottingham Forest |- | CB | Ashley Williams | Swansea City |- | LB | Ian Harte | Reading |- | RM | Adel Taarabt | Queens Park Rangers |- | CM | Andy King | Leicester City |- | CM | Wes Hoolahan | Norwich City |- | LM | Scott Sinclair | Swansea City |- | ST | Grant Holt | Norwich City |- | ST | Danny Graham | Watford
Attendances Source: