The 2011–12 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format.
Reading secured the Championship title on 21 April, following second-placed Southampton's 2–1 defeat to Middlesbrough. The result left Southampton four points behind Reading with only one game remaining. Southampton were promoted on the final day of the season, after winning 4–0 at home to Coventry City, who were one of three teams relegated along with Portsmouth (who were deducted ten points midway through the season for entering administration) and Doncaster Rovers. West Ham United occupied the final promotion place as they returned to the Premier League after just one year. West Ham beat Blackpool in the Play-off final at Wembley Stadium, sealing their return to the top division after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion.
Changes from last season
Team changes
From Championship Promoted to Premier League Queens Park Rangers Norwich City Swansea City
Relegated to League One Sheffield United Scunthorpe United Preston North End
To Championship Relegated from Premier League
West Ham United Blackpool Birmingham City
Promoted from League One Brighton & Hove Albion Southampton Peterborough United
Rule changes The Football Association and the Football Association of Wales will now both decide on disciplinary action for Welsh clubs in the Premier League and the Football League. Only five substitutes can be named on match days, reduced from last season's seven named substitutes.
Team overview
Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity Barnsley Barnsley Oakwell 23,009 Birmingham City Birmingham St Andrew's 30,079 Blackpool Blackpool Bloomfield Road 16,220 Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton Falmer Stadium 22,374 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 Nottingham Forest Nottingham City Ground 30,576 Peterborough United Peterborough London Road Stadium 15,460 Portsmouth Portsmouth Fratton Park 20,224 Reading Reading Madejski Stadium 24,224 Southampton Southampton St Mary's Stadium 32,689 Watford Watford Vicarage Road 23,500 West Ham United London Boleyn Ground 35,303
Personnel and sponsoring Team Manager Chairman Team captain Kit maker Sponsor Barnsley Nike C.K. Beckett Birmingham City Xtep RationalFX Blackpool Fila Wonga.comBrighton & Hove Albion Errea BrightonandHoveJobs.com Bristol City adidas RSG (Home) & Bristol City Community Trust (Away) Burnley Puma Fun88 Cardiff City Puma Malaysia Coventry City Vacant Puma City Link Crystal Palace Nike GAC Logistics Derby County adidas buymobiles.net Doncaster Rovers Nike One Call Insurance Hull City adidas Cash Converters Ipswich Town Mitre Marcus Evans Leeds United Macron Enterprise Insurance Leicester City Vichai Raksriaksorn BURRDA King Power (Front), Amazing Thailand (Back) Middlesbrough adidas Ramsdens Millwall Macron racing+ Nottingham Forest Umbro John Pye & Sons Auctioneers Peterborough United Nike Energy Park Peterborough Portsmouth Under Administration Kappa Jobsite Reading Puma Waitrose Southampton Umbro aap3 Watford BURRDA BURRDA West Ham United Macron SBOBET
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Barnsley Resigned 15 May 2011 Pre-season 1 June 2011West Ham United Sacked Cardiff City 30 May 2011 17 June 2011 Nottingham Forest 12 June 2011 13 June 2011 Birmingham City Signed by Aston Villa 17 June 2011 22 June 2011 Watford Signed by Cardiff City 21 June 2011 Doncaster Rovers Sacked 23 September 2011 24th 23 September 2011 Nottingham Forest Resigned 2 October 2011 21st 14 October 2011 Bristol City Mutual consent 3 October 2011 24th 19 October 2011 Portsmouth Signed by Nottingham Forest 14 October 2011 18th Michael Appleton 10 November 2011 Leicester City Mutual consent 24 October 2011 13th 15 November 2011 Hull City Signed by Leicester City 15 November 2011 9th 10 January 2012 Leeds United Sacked 1 February 2012 10th 18 February 2012 Hull City 8 May 2012 Pre-season 8 June 2012 Birmingham City Signed by Norwich City 7 June 2012 Lee Clark 26 June 2012 Watford Sacked 2 July 2012 Gianfranco Zola 7 July 2012
Ownership changes TeamNew ownerPrevious ownerEffective datePortsmouthConvers Sport InitiativesBalram Chainrai1 June 2011PortsmouthAdministrationConvers Sport Initiatives29 November 2011
League table
Play-offs
Results The fixtures for the Championship were released on 17 June 2011. The season kicked off on 5 August 2011 and concluded on 28 April 2012.
Statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Rickie LambertSouthampton272 Ricardo Vaz TêBarnsley/West Ham223 Billy SharpDoncaster Rovers/Southampton194 Ross McCormackLeeds United185 Kevin PhillipsBlackpool16 Charlie AustinBurnley Marlon KingBirmingham City Matty FryattHull City9 Jay RodriguezBurnley15 Darius HendersonMillwall David NugentLeicester City
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Chris BurkeBirmingham City162 Robert SnodgrassLeeds United153 Rickie LambertSouthampton144 Peter WhittinghamCardiff City135 Jobi McAnuffReading11 Danny FoxSouthampton Stephen CraineyBlackpool Liam LawrencePortsmouth/Cardiff City George BoydPeterborough10 Frazer RichardsonSouthampton10 Ben DaviesDerby County James HenryMillwall Jimmy KébéReading Adam LallanaSouthampton Gary Taylor-FletcherBlackpool
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Peterborough United Ipswich Town 7–1 20 August 2011 Southampton Nottingham Forest 3–2 10 September 2011 Birmingham City Millwall 3–0 11 September 2011 Millwall Leicester City 0–3 22 October 2011 Blackpool Leeds United 0–5 2 November 2011 Southampton Brighton & Hove Albion 3–0 19 November 2011 Blackpool Barnsley 1–3 26 December 2011 Barnsley Leeds United 4–1 31 December 2011 Millwall Barnsley 1–3 21 January 2012 4 Birmingham City Leeds United 1–4 31 January 2012 Southampton Watford 0–3 25 February 2012 Southampton Millwall 2–3 17 March 2012 4 Nottingham Forest Leeds United 3–7 20 March 2012 Burnley Portsmouth 1–5 31 March 2012 Nottingham Forest Crystal Palace 0–3 31 March 2012 West Ham United Brighton & Hove Albion 6–0 14 April 2012 Hull City Barnsley 3–1 17 April 2012 4 Player scored 4 goals
Scoring First goal of the season: Gary Taylor-Fletcher for Blackpool against Hull City (5 August 2011) Fastest goal of the season: 7 seconds – Ricardo Vaz Tê for Barnsley against Crystal Palace (6 December 2011) Latest goal of the season: 98 minutes and 49 seconds – Luciano Becchio for Leeds United against Doncaster Rovers (18 February 2012) Most goals in a game: 10 goals Leeds United 3–7 Nottingham Forest (20 March 2012) Most goals scored in a game by one team: 7 goals – Peterborough United 7–1 Ipswich Town (20 August 2011), Leeds United 3–7 Nottingham Forest (20 March 2012). Widest winning margin: 6 goals – Peterborough United 7–1 Ipswich Town (20 August 2011), Millwall 0–6 Birmingham City (14 January 2012), West Ham United 6–0 Brighton & Hove Albion (14 April 2012) Widest away winning margin: 6 goals – Millwall 0–6 Birmingham City (14 January 2012) Highest scoring draw: 6 goals – Brighton & Hove Albion 3–3 Leeds United (23 September 2011), West Ham United 3–3 Birmingham City (9 April 2012) Most games failed to score in: 19 – Nottingham Forest Fewest games failed to score in: 6 – Birmingham City
Disciplinary record by team
RankTeam1Cardiff City4902Blackpool4813Reading5114Crystal Palace492=Peterborough United4926Southampton4647Derby County5418Barnsley552=Coventry City55210Birmingham City543=Watford56212Ipswich Town53513Nottingham Forest574=Burnley61215Hull City64116West Ham United60617Doncaster Rovers67318Millwall70219Leicester City60920Leeds United6711=Portsmouth73422Bristol City72523Middlesbrough71724Brighton & Hove Albion838Source:
Most yellow cards (player): 12 – Barry Robson (Middlesbrough) Most red cards (player): 2 – Neil Danns (Leicester City), Matt Mills (Leicester City), Matt Sparrow (Brighton & Hove Albion), Kevin Thomson (Middlesbrough)
Clean sheets Most clean sheets: 20 – Reading Fewest clean sheets: 4 – Peterborough United
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthNotesManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Gus PoyetBrighton & Hove Albion Marvin EmnesMiddlesbroughSeptember Tony MowbrayMiddlesbrough Matthew BatesMiddlesbroughOctober Chris HughtonBirmingham City Nathaniel ClyneCrystal PalaceNovember Malky MackayCardiff City Billy SharpDoncaster RoversDecember Tony MowbrayMiddlesbrough Alex PearceReadingJanuary Chris HughtonBirmingham City Curtis DaviesBirmingham City February Brian McDermottReading Adam FedericiReadingMarch Brian McDermottReading Garath McClearyNottingham ForestApril Kenny JackettMillwall Ricardo Vaz TêWest Ham United
Events
Portsmouth administration On 17 February 2012, Portsmouth entered administration for the second time in three years, incurring a 10-point penalty. Trevor Birch of the accountancy firm Pannell Kerr Forster was appointed administrator of the club.
Attendances
Source:
No. Club Average Change Highest Lowest 1 West Ham United 30,923 -7.7% 35,000 25,680 2 Southampton 26,420 19.2% 32,363 21,014 3 Derby County 26,020 0.0% 33,010 22,040 4 Leeds United 23,283 -14.7% 33,366 19,469 5 Leicester City 23,037 -2.7% 27,720 19,806 6 Cardiff City 22,100 -4.7% 25,109 20,366 7 Nottingham Forest 21,970 -5.6% 27,356 18,506 8 Brighton & Hove Albion 20,028 172.4% 20,968 18,412 9 Reading 19,219 8.7% 24,026 15,124 10 Birmingham City 19,127 -24.9% 25,516 16,253 11 Hull City 18,790 -11.2% 22,676 16,604 12 Ipswich Town 18,267 -6.9% 24,763 15,650 13 Middlesbrough 17,558 7.9% 27,794 14,366 14 Crystal Palace 15,219 -0.9% 21,002 11,853 15 Coventry City 15,119 -7.3% 22,240 12,054 16 Portsmouth 15,016 -4.4% 19,879 11,261 17 Burnley 14,048 -5.9% 17,226 12,355 18 Bristol City 13,846 -5.2% 19,003 12,017 19 Blackpool 12,764 -19.1% 14,141 11,414 20 Watford 12,704 -3.4% 16,314 10,592 21 Millwall 11,484 -7.7% 16,085 9,062 22 Barnsley 10,332 -12.9% 17,499 8,900 23 Doncaster Rovers 9,341 -8.9% 12,962 7,572 24 Peterborough United 9,111 41.3% 13,517 6,351
References