The 2011–12 Leicester City F.C. season was the club's 107th season in the English football league system and their 60th (non-consecutive) season in the second tier of English football. This was their third consecutive season in the Football League Championship.
The summer saw Leicester spend big in an attempt to gain promotion back to the Premier League, but an inconsistent start saw manager Sven-Göran Eriksson sacked after a 3–0 defeat at home to struggling Millwall saw Leicester sitting in 13th position after 13 games.
After days of negotiations, Nigel Pearson was finally re-appointed as manager on 15 November 2011, starting his second spell at the club after leaving for Hull City 17 months earlier. However, the club continued their inconsistent form under Pearson and sat mid-table for virtually the entire season before eventually finishing in 9th place.
Pre-season
Pre-season events Note: This section does not include close season transfers or pre-season match results, which are listed in their own sections below. 18 May 2011 – Asia Football Investments led by Vichai and Aiyawatt Raksriaksorn acquire a 100% stake in the club's ownership. 7 June 2011 – Susan Whelan named as club chief executive. Simon Capper named as new finance director and Andrew Neville named as football director. 5 July 2011 – Leicester's home ground The Walkers' Stadium is renamed The King Power Stadium due to a change in sponsorship. 5 July 2011 – First team coach Dietmar Hamann leaves the club to become manager of Stockport County. 5 August 2011 – Aleksandar Tunchev signs a one-year contract extension which ends in 2012.
Kit and sponsorship On 6 May 2011 a preview of the 2011–12 home kit was released on the official Leicester City website. It was announced that the kit would be worn against Ipswich Town in the last game of the 2010–11 season. On 7 May 2011 the home kit was revealed to have a collar for the first time since the 2001–2002 season with white shorts and blue socks with a white trim.
Friendlies
Events Note:This section does not include transfers or match results, which are listed in their own sections below. 21 September 2011 – Sol Bamba signs a new contract until 2014. 7 October 2011 – Tom Hopper signs a professional contract until 2013. 24 October 2011 – Sven-Göran Eriksson and Derek Fazackerley left their posts as Manager and Assistant Manager by mutual agreement. 24 October 2011 – Mike Stowell and Jon Rudkin are placed in temporary charge of first team affairs as joint caretaker managers. 15 November 2011 – Nigel Pearson is re-appointed manager, 17 months after leaving the club. Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh are also re-appointed as his assistants. 10 January 2012 – Cian Bolger signs new deal until June 2013. 12 January 2012 – Chris Short leaves his post as fitness coach. 19 January 2012 – Liam Moore signs a contract extension which ends in 2013. 19 January 2012 – Shane Byrne signs a contract extension which ends in 2013. 25 February 2012 – Matt Mills is stripped of the captaincy. 29 February 2012 – Jeffrey Schlupp signs a new contract until 2015. 1 March 2012 – Bruno Berner announces his retirement from professional football.
Players and staff
2011–12 squad
No. Nationality Name Position Joined Signed from Goalkeepers 1 Kasper Schmeichel GK 2011 Leeds United 21 Chris Weale GK 2009 Bristol City 25 Conrad Logan GK 2004 Youth 31 Adam Smith GK 2010 Middlesbrough Patrick Lane* GK 2011 Unattached Defenders 2 Lee Peltier RB / RW / CB / DM 2011 Huddersfield Town 3 Paul Konchesky LB 2011 Liverpool 4 John Paintsil RB 2011 Unattached 5 Matt Mills CB 2011 Reading 6 Sol Bamba CB 2011 Hibernian 12 Sean St Ledger CB 2011 Preston North End 15 Bruno Berner# LB / CB / DM 2008 Blackburn Rovers 16 Michael Ball* LB 2011 Unattached 26 Wes Morgan CB 2012 Nottingham Forest 30 Tom Kennedy LB 2010 Rochdale 32 Tom Parkes CB 2009 Youth 33 Aleksander Tunchev CB / LB 2008 CSKA Sofia 34 Liam Moore CB / RB 2011 Youth 36 George Taft CB 2011 Youth Cian Bolger CB 2009 Youth Midfielders 8 Matt Oakley CM 2008 Derby County 10 Andy King CM / DM / AM 2006 Youth 11 Lloyd Dyer LW / RW 2008 Milton Keynes Dons 16 Danny Drinkwater CM 2012 Manchester United 17 Michael Johnson* CM Loan Manchester City 18 Franck Moussa CM / RW / LW 2010 Southend United 19 Richie Wellens CM 2009 Doncaster Rovers 22 Yuki Abe* DM / RB 2010 Urawa Red Diamonds 22 Ben Marshall RW / LW / AM 2012 Stoke City 23 Neil Danns CM / RW 2011 Crystal Palace 26 Gélson Fernandes* DM Loan Saint-Étienne Jason Banton* LW 2011 Unattached Shane Byrne CM 2011 Youth Moreno* DM / CB 2010 Vitória de Guimarães Dany N'Guessan* LW 2009 Lincoln City Oliver Norburn CM 2011 Youth Forwards 7 Paul Gallagher AM / RW / CF 2009 Blackburn Rovers 9 Steve Howard CF 2008 Derby County 13 Darius Vassell CF / RW 2010 Unattached 14 Martyn Waghorn CF / RW 2010 Sunderland 15 Harry Panayiotou CF / AM 2012 Youth 20 Jermaine Beckford CF 2011 Everton 24 Nathan Delfouneso* CF / RW Loan Aston Villa 27 Jeffrey Schlupp CF / RW 2010 Youth 35 David Nugent CF / RW 2011 Unattached 37 Tom Hopper CF 2011 Youth Elliott Chamberlain CF 2010 Youth Leon Crnčič* CF 2010 Atalanta Yann Kermorgant* CF 2009 Stade Reims
2011–12 backroom staff
Position Nationality NameManager(Until 24 October 2011)Sven-Göran Eriksson*Manager(From 15 November 2011)Nigel PearsonAssistant manager(Until 24 October 2011)Derek Fazackerley*Assistant manager(From 15 November 2011)Craig ShakespeareAssistant manager/Head of Recruitment(From 15 November 2011)Steve Walsh First Team Coach/Goalkeeping CoachMike Stowell Fitness Coach (Until 12 January 2012)Chris Short Head physioDavid Rennie Academy managerJon Rudkin Academy coach (Under 18s)Steve Beaglehole Academy coach (Under 16s) Trevor Peake
Transfers
In Date Position Nationality Name From Fee 21 June 2011 RB Lee Peltier Huddersfield Town Undisclosed 27 June 2011 GK Kasper Schmeichel Leeds United Undisclosed 1 July 2011 CM Neil Danns Crystal Palace Free 4 July 2011 CB Sean St Ledger Preston North End Undisclosed 5 July 2011 CF David Nugent Free agent Free 7 July 2011 CB Matt Mills Reading Undisclosed 12 July 2011 LW Jason Banton Free agent Free 13 July 2011 LB Paul Konchesky Liverpool Undisclosed 21 July 2011 RB John Paintsil Free agent Free 6 August 2011 LB Michael Ball Free agent Free 29 August 2011 DM Callum Webb Free agent Free 29 August 2011 CB Steven Smith Free agent Free 31 August 2011 CF Jermaine Beckford Everton Undisclosed 27 October 2011 GK Patrick Lane Free agent Free 20 January 2012 CM Danny Drinkwater Manchester United £1,000,000 30 January 2012 CB Wes Morgan Nottingham Forest £1,000,000 31 January 2012 RW Ben Marshall Stoke City £750,000–£1,000,000
Out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee 13 June 2011 RB Michael Lamey Wisła Kraków Free 30 June 2011 CB Jack Hobbs Hull City Undisclosed 31 August 2011 LW Dany N'Guessan Millwall Undisclosed 27 February 2012 GK Patrick Lane Karlstad BK Free
Loans in Date from Date to Position Nationality Name From 28 July 2011 End of Season CM Michael Johnson Manchester City 4 August 2011 4 January 2012 CM Gélson Fernandes Saint-Étienne 23 January 2012 February 2012 CF Nathan Delfouneso Aston Villa
Loans out Date from Date to Position Nationality Name To 11 July 2011 January 2012 CB Cian Bolger Bristol Rovers 12 July 2011 January 2012 GK Conrad Logan Rotherham United 28 July 2011 January 2012 CB Tom Parkes Burton Albion 5 August 2011 December 2011 CB Liam Moore Bradford City 5 August 2011 September 2011 CB Aleksandar Tunchev Crystal Palace 8 August 2011 January 2012 LW Dany N'Guessan Millwall 16 August 2011 September 2011 CF Elliott Chamberlain Stockport County 23 August 2011 October 2011 CB George Taft Kettering Town 31 August 2011 January 2011 CM Shane Byrne Bury 31 August 2011 January 2012 CF Martyn Waghorn Hull City 16 September 2011 October 2011 GK Adam Smith Chesterfield 23 September 2011 January 2012 CM Oliver Norburn Bristol Rovers 30 September 2011 October 2011 CM Matt Oakley Exeter City 30 September 2011 October 2011 LB Tom Kennedy Peterborough United 30 September 2011 October 2011 CF Jason Banton Burton Albion 25 November 2011 January 2012 CF Elliott Chamberlain Telford United 6 January 2012 19 January 2012 GK Adam Smith Lincoln City 20 January 2012 February 2012 GK Chris Weale Northampton Town 9 February 2012 March 2012 CB Tom Parkes Bristol Rovers 10 February 2012 22 February 2012 GK Patrick Lane Hinckley United 25 March 2012 July 2012 CB George Taft Karlstad BK
Released Date Position Nationality Name 30 June 2011 CM Aman Verma 30 June 2011 GK Robert Ambrusics 30 June 2011 CF Ashley Chambers 30 June 2011 CM Nathan Hicks 30 June 2011 RW Jorrin John 30 June 2011 CF Craig King 30 June 2011 CM Ben Milnes 30 June 2011 RB Luke O'Neill 30 June 2011 CF Adi Yussuf 30 June 2011 GK Ricardo 18 July 2011 RB Robbie Neilson 30 August 2011 CF Leon Črnčič 5 September 2011 CF Yann Kermorgant 22 December 2011 LW Jason Banton 13 January 2012 DM Moreno 23 January 2012 DM Yuki Abe 23 January 2012 LB Michael Ball
Results
Football League Championship
FA Cup
Football League Cup
Awards
Club awards At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2011–12 season.
Player of the Season Award Kasper SchmeichelYoung Player of the Season Award Ben MarshallPlayers' Player of the Season Award Kasper SchmeichelSupporters' Club Player of the Season Award Kasper Schmeichel Academy Player of the Season Award Tom HopperGoal of the Season Award Ben Marshall (vs. Chelsea, 18 March 2012)Performance of the Season Leicester City vs. Norwich City, 18 February 2012
Divisional awards Date NationWinnerAward 8 August 2011 Kasper Schmeichel Championship Team of the Week 19 September 2011 Kasper Schmeichel Championship Team of the Week 31 October 2011 Andy King Championship Team of the Week 21 November 2011 Matt Mills Championship Team of the Week 21 November 2011 Paul Gallagher Championship Team of the Week 13 February 2012 Paul Gallagher Championship Team of the Week 27 February 2012 Neil Danns Championship Team of the Week 27 February 2012 Lloyd Dyer Championship Team of the Week 5 March 2012 Lee Peltier Championship Team of the Week 26 March 2012 Ben Marshall Championship Team of the Week 10 April 2012 Paul Konchesky Championship Team of the Week 28 April 2012 Paul Konchesky Championship Team of the Week
Championship statistics
Championship table
Club standings
Results by round
Scores by club Leicester City score given first. OppositionHome scoreAway scoreDoubleBarnsley 1–2 1–1Birmingham City 3–1 0–2Blackpool 2–0 3–3Bristol City 1–2 2–3 Bristol City do doubleBurnley 1–1 3–1Brighton & Hove Albion 1–0 0–1Cardiff City 2–1 0–0Coventry City 2–0 1–0 Leicester City do doubleCrystal Palace 3–0 2–1 Leicester City do doubleDerby County 4–0 1–0 Leicester City do doubleDoncaster Rovers 4–0 1–2Hull City 2–1 1–2Ipswich Town 1–1 2–1Leeds United 0–1 2–1Middlesbrough 2–2 0–0Millwall 0–3 1–2 Millwall do doubleNottingham Forest 0–0 2–2Peterborough United 1–1 0–1Portsmouth 1–1 1–1Reading 0–2 1–3 Reading do doubleSouthampton 3–2 2–0 Leicester City do doubleWatford 2–0 2–3West Ham United 1–2 2–3 West Ham United do double
Club statistics All data from LCFC.com
Appearances
Top scorers Pos.Nat.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal 1 David Nugent 15 1 0 16 2 Jermaine Beckford 9 6 0 15 3 Paul Gallagher 8 0 2 10 4 Neil Danns 5 0 1 6 = Lloyd Dyer 4 0 2 6 = Jeffrey Schlupp 2 0 4 6 7 Andy King 4 0 0 4 = Ben Marshall 3 1 0 4 9 Danny Drinkwater 2 0 0 2 = Paul Konchesky 2 0 0 2 = Lee Peltier 2 0 0 2 = Darius Vassell 2 0 0 2 13 Yuki Abe 1 0 0 1 = Sol Bamba 1 0 0 1 = Gélson Fernandes 1 0 0 1 = Matt Mills 1 0 0 1 = Harry Panayiotou 1 0 0 1 = Martyn Waghorn 1 0 0 1 = Richie Wellens 1 0 0 1 = Sean St Ledger 0 1 0 1 = Steve Howard 0 0 1 1Own goals1102Total66101086
Most assists