June 2011 17 June: Former
Birmingham City manager
Alex McLeish is appointed manager of
Aston Villa.
July 2011 4 July:
Manchester City sign full-back
Gaël Clichy from Arsenal for £7 million. 6 July:
Rushden & Diamonds, who were members of the Football League from to 2001 to 2006, are expelled from the Conference National due to financial problems. 11 July: Arsenal make their second summer signing,
Gervinho from French champions
Lille for £11 million. 13 July:
Wolverhampton Wanderers sign defender
Roger Johnson from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee, believed to have surpassed the £7 million the
Black Country club paid for
Steven Fletcher last summer. 28 July:
Manchester City bring in Argentinian striker
Sergio Aguero from
Atletico Madrid for a club record £35 million, which could rise to £38 million. 30 July:
Brighton & Hove Albion finally move into their
Amex Stadium at
Falmer, first planned in 1999, and open their new home with a 3–2 friendly defeat by
Tottenham Hotspur.
August 2011 5th:
Football League action kicks off at the
KC Stadium, where
Hull City lose 1–0 at home to
Blackpool in the Championship. 6th: The bulk of the opening Football League fixtures are played.
Michael Chopra scores twice on his
Ipswich Town debut in the Championship as the
Suffolk team win 3–0 at
Bristol City. Brighton's first competitive match at their new stadium sees them beat
Doncaster Rovers 2–1 with two late goals from
Will Buckley overturning a Doncaster lead. League Cup holders
Birmingham City lose 2–1 at
Derby County.
Steve McClaren's first game in charge of
Nottingham Forest sees them draw 0–0 at home to
Barnsley. Newly promoted
Southampton beat
Leeds United 3–1 at
St Mary's Stadium. In League One,
Charlton Athletic triumph 3–0 at home to
AFC Bournemouth.
Sheffield United get off to a winning start in their quest for a return to the Championship by beating
Oldham Athletic 2–0 at
Boundary Park. In League Two,
Paolo Di Canio gets off to a winning start as
Swindon Town manager as he guides the
Wiltshire club to a 3–0 home win over
Crewe Alexandra.
Crawley Town's first Football League game sees them draw 2–2 with
Port Vale at
Vale Park.
AFC Wimbledon, formed nine years ago in response to the
relocation of
the old Wimbledon club (rebranded as
Milton Keynes Dons in June 2004) to
Milton Keynes, start their Football League career with a 3–2 home defeat by
Bristol Rovers. 7th: Manchester United win the
FA Community Shield, beating neighbours
City 3–2 at
Wembley after going 2–0 down. 8th:
Arsenal sign 17-year-old winger
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from
Southampton for £12 million, which could eventually rise to £15 million. 11th: Tottenham Hotspur's opening Premier League game of the season, against
Everton on 13 August, is postponed due to
recent rioting in and near the
Tottenham area. 12th:
Kenny Dalglish makes his fifth signing of the close season for
Liverpool with a £6 million move for
Newcastle United defender
José Enrique. 15th:
Cesc Fàbregas leaves
Arsenal to return to his former club
Barcelona for £35 million. 16th:
Emmanuel Eboué leaves
Arsenal to join Turkish team
Galatasaray for £3 million. 24th:
Samir Nasri joins
Manchester City from
Arsenal for £25 million.
Juan Mata joins
Chelsea from
Valencia for £23.5 million. 29th:
Edin Džeko scores four goals as
Manchester City briefly go top of the Premier League with a 5–1 thrashing of
Tottenham Hotspur at
White Hart Lane, though they are soon usurped at the top of the table on goal difference by their rivals Manchester United, who demolish
Arsenal 8–2 at
Old Trafford. The result is Arsenal's worst for 116 years and United biggest goal haul in a league game since February 1999. 31st: August ends with reigning champions Manchester United top of the table on goal difference, ahead of Manchester City. Liverpool. Chelsea, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Aston Villa complete the top seven, with West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur (all without a point) in the relegation zone. In the Championship, newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion and Southampton occupy the automatic promotion places, with Derby County, Middlesbrough, West Ham United and Crystal Palace in the playoff places.
September 2011 1 September: The transfer window closes with
Mikel Arteta ending six years at
Everton to sign for
Arsenal in a £10 million deal.
Arsène Wenger also brings
Chelsea's Yossi Benayoun to the
Emirates Stadium, on a loan deal for the rest of the season. These acquisitions come 24 hours after Wenger bolsters his defence with a £6.2 million move for
Fenerbahçe and
Brazil left-back
André Santos. Another big money move on deadline day includes
Raul Meireles leaving Liverpool in a £10 million move to Chelsea. Having left Manchester United at the end of last season after four injury-plagued seasons,
Owen Hargreaves signs for neighbours Manchester City on a one-year contract, after weeks of speculation that he would join
West Bromwich Albion.
Blackburn Rovers terminate the contract of striker
El Hadji Diouf after two years at
Ewood Park, where the attack was strengthened the previous day by the arrival of Everton's out-of-favour striker
Yakubu. 8th:
Dagenham & Redbridge contest a
Football League Trophy Round One match against
Leyton Orient at
The Matchroom Stadium. With the scores level at 1–1 after 90 minutes, the match goes to penalties and as a result become the longest penalty shoot out with consecutive goal scorers in the history of English football and what is believed to be the world. The final score ended as 14–13 to Dagenham on penalties, with
Ben Chorley missing the 28th spot kick for Orient which sent the Daggers through to a second round clash with
Southend United. 30th: September ends with Manchester United still leading the Premier League, ahead of rivals Manchester City on goal difference. Chelsea remain in third, while Newcastle United are maintaining their European push in fourth place. The top seven is rounded out by Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City. Blackburn Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers are still suffering from their early season form and make up the relegation zone. In the Championship, newly promoted Southampton are continuing their bid for successive promotions, leading Middlesbrough and Derby County on goal difference. West Ham United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Cardiff City complete the top six, while Millwall, Bristol City and Doncaster Rovers stand at the foot of the table.
October 2011 23rd: Manchester City extend their lead over Manchester United at the top of the Premier League with a 6–1 win over their local rivals at Old Trafford. It was Manchester United's worst loss at Old Trafford since 1955 and the first time they had conceded six goals at home since 1930. Fellow title contenders Chelsea suffer a 1–0 setback against Queens Park Rangers at
Loftus Road. 29th:
Robin van Persie scores a hat-trick as Arsenal gain a first away league win of the season, beating Chelsea 5–3 at
Stamford Bridge. 31st: October ends with Manchester City five points clear of second-placed Manchester United. Newcastle United continue to defy critics who tipped them to struggle this season and stand in third place, while the top seven is rounded out by Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and an ever-improving Arsenal team who appear to have put their poor start to the season behind them. At the other end of the table, Wigan Athletic stand bottom after six successive losses; they are joined in the relegation zone by Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers. In the Championship, Southampton are continuing their bid to become the second team in two seasons to achieve two successive promotion to the Premier League, standing three points clear of second-placed West Ham United. Crystal Palace, expected by many to struggle this season, are three points behind West Ham in third, while the play-off places are completed by Middlesbrough, Derby County and Hull City. Coventry City, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City make up the relegation zone.
November 2011 18th: League One team Carlisle United announce plans to relocate from
Brunton Park, their home since 1909, to a new 12,000-seat stadium. 27th: Football mourns the death of Wales manager
Gary Speed, 42, who was found dead at his home in
Chester. Speed, who had managed the Welsh team for nearly a year following a brief spell as manager of Sheffield United, was a player in the English leagues for more than 20 years, during which time he won a league title with Leeds United and was an FA Cup runner-up twice with Newcastle United. 28th: Queens Park Rangers chairman
Tony Fernandes announces his intention to relocate the club from
Loftus Road to a new, bigger stadium elsewhere in
West London. 30th: Sunderland manager
Steve Bruce becomes the first Premiership manager to be sacked during the season, leaving the north-east club after years in charge with the Wearside club only two points clear of the relegation zone. The month ends with Manchester City still five points clear of Manchester United. Tottenham Hotspur have put their poor start firmly behind and stand two points behind United with a game in hand. Newcastle occupy the crucial fourth place, while Chelsea have slipped out of the top four after losing three of their last five matches. Liverpool and Arsenal complete the top seven. The relegation zone remains unchanged, except that Wigan Athletic have moved off the bottom of the table at the expense of Blackburn Rovers. Southampton and West Ham United continue to occupy the automatic promotion places in the Championship, while Cardiff City, Middlesbrough, Leeds United and Leicester City (ahead of seventh-placed Brighton on goal difference) make up the playoff zone. Doncaster Rovers and Coventry City remain joint bottom of the Championship, while Nottingham Forest have dropped back into the relegation zone, behind Portsmouth, Bristol City and Ipswich Town on goal difference.
December 2011 6th: Chelsea join Arsenal in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 3–0 home win over
Valencia in their final group game, to ease the pressure on under-fire manager André Villas-Boas after four wins from the previous 10 games in all competitions led to increased speculation about his future as manager. 7th: Manchester United's 2–1 defeat at
Basel in Switzerland knocks them out of the Champions League and puts them into the Europa League. Their neighbours Manchester City suffer a similar fate despite their 2–0 home win over
Bayern Munich in their final group game. 31st: The year ends with Manchester United joint top of the Premier League after having overcome City's five-point lead, although City have a game in hand. Tottenham Hotspur remain in third, six points adrift of United but with a game in hand, while Arsenal have moved into the crucial fourth place for the first time this season, at the expense of Chelsea. Liverpool and Newcastle complete the top seven. Bolton Wanderers end the year bottom of the Premier League; Blackburn Rovers (who were bottom on Christmas) and Wigan Athletic remain in the relegation zone, although the pressure is building up on Wolverhampton Wanderers and QPR. In the Championship, Southampton remain top and still well placed for a second successive promotion. Middlesbrough now occupy second, while West Ham United, Cardiff City, Reading and Hull City complete the top six. The relegation zone remains unchanged from end of November.
January 2012 31st: January ends with Manchester City still top of the Premier League, but with United now level on points with them, five points ahead of third-place Tottenham. Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle complete the top seven. Wigan are bottom of the table, four points adrift of safety, while Wolves and Blackburn are just a single point adrift. West Ham are now top of the Championship, with Southampton, Cardiff, Birmingham, Hull and Blackpool completing the top six. Coventry (last), Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers remain in the relegation zone.
February 2012 3rd: Chelsea and England captain
John Terry, awaiting trial on a charge of racially abusing QPR's
Anton Ferdinand in a league game on 21 December, is stripped of the England captaincy. 6th: England coach
Fabio Capello criticises the decision of the
Football Association to strip John Terry of the England captaincy. 8th: Tottenham manager
Harry Redknapp and the former
Portsmouth chairman
Milan Mandarić are cleared of tax evasion after a trial at
Southwark Crown Court. Hours after the verdicts are delivered, England coach Fabio Capello announces his immediate resignation and almost immediately there are widespread calls across football for Redknapp to be installed as Capello's successor. 12th: The
Black Country derby sees West Bromwich Albion crush Wolverhampton Wanderers 5–1 at the Molineux. 13th: Less than 24 hours after the Black Country derby humiliation, Wolverhampton Wanderers sack manager
Mick McCarthy, their manager for years. 24th: After
Alan Curbishley and
Walter Smith both rejected the chance to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers, coach
Terry Connor is put in charge of the first team until the end of the season. 26th:
Kenny Dalglish wins the first trophy of his second spell as Liverpool manager, as they defeat Cardiff City on penalties after a 2–2 draw in the League Cup final – the first time they have won the trophy under the management of Dalglish, who guided them to three league titles and two FA Cups in his first spell as manager. 29th: February ends with Manchester City two points clear of Manchester United in second and ten points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, whose title charge now appears to be over following a 5–2 defeat at rival Arsenal, who end the month in the crucial fourth place. Chelsea, Newcastle and Liverpool remain in the top seven. Although they remain bottom, Wigan are now only one point adrift of safety, joined in the bottom three by Bolton and Blackburn, with Wolves and QPR both within a point of the relegation zone. Southampton are back on top of the Championship, but West Ham are a point behind with a game in hand. Reading, Blackpool, Birmingham and Cardiff make up the play-off zone. Nottingham Forest have now climbed clear of the relegation zone at the expense of a Portsmouth team deduced ten points after entering administration; the South Coast club are sandwiched by Coventry and bottom team Doncaster.
March 2012 4th: Chelsea sack manager André Villas-Boas after nine months in charge, the day after they lost 1–0 in the league at West Bromwich Albion. It is the second time in three weeks that the
Black Country team have inflicted a defeat upon a team whose manager has then been sacked. In another twist, Chelsea appoint their assistant manager
Roberto Di Matteo, who was sacked as Albion manager last season, in charge until the end of the season. 11th: Manchester United moved to first position in the Premier League for the first time since early October 2011 with ten games remaining after United defeated West Bromwich Albion 2–0 and previous leaders Manchester City loss 0–1 to Swansea. 17th: The FA Cup quarter-final tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers at
White Hart Lane is postponed after 41 minutes when the visiting team's midfielder
Fabrice Muamba is taken seriously ill on the pitch after collapsing. 29th: Aston Villa captain
Stiliyan Petrov is diagnosed with acute
leukaemia after complaining of a fever following the club's game against
Arsenal. 31st: March ends with Manchester United now holding a two-point advantage over City, with a game in hand. The rest of the top seven remains unchanged, except that Everton have now moved ahead of their Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who are in eighth place with a game in hand. Wolves have only managed to pick up one point following the sacking of Mick McCarthy and look doomed for relegation as they stand six points adrift of safety with seven games left to play. Blackburn Rovers, with a game in hand, are ahead of QPR and Wigan only by virtue of goals scored; Bolton are a point ahead of Blackburn, having played the same number of games as their Lancashire rivals. In the Championship, Southampton look certain for promotion as they are six points clear of third-placed West Ham with six games left, although their challenge for the Football League title is coming under threat from Reading, who stand two points behind. Birmingham (with a game in hand), Blackpool and Brighton make up the play-off places, with Middlesbrough only outside on goal difference. At the opposite end of the table, Coventry have climbed out of the drop zone at the expense of Bristol City, although Doncaster and Portsmouth look doomed for the drop.
April 2012 14th: Charlton Athletic become the first League team to gain promotion after a 1–0 win at Carlisle United meant that Charlton were promoted and would be playing Championship football in 2012/13 after a three-year exile. On the same day Fleetwood Town were confirmed as champions of the Football Conference meaning that as from next season they'll be playing League Football for the first time in their history. 17th: Reading are promoted back to the Premier League after a four-year exile by beating Nottingham Forest 1–0 at home. 21st: Already-relegated Doncaster Rovers drag Coventry City down to League One with them by winning 2–0 in the Championship clash at the
Ricoh Arena, meaning that the midlanders will be playing third tier football next season for the first time in nearly 50 years. Portsmouth's relegation is also confirmed by a 2–1 home defeat by Derby County, a mere two years after being in the Premier League and four years after winning the FA Cup. Rochdale become the first League One team of the season to suffer relegation, after losing 2–1 at Chesterfield, whose victory keeps their own survival hopes alive. Swindon Town seal promotion from League Two despite a 3–1 defeat at Gillingham, Shrewsbury's chances of sealing promotion are put on hold by a 1–1 draw at Accrington. 22nd: Wolves are relegated from the Premier League after a three-year stay with a 2–0 home defeat by Manchester City, whose title hopes are kept alive by Manchester United being held to a 4–4 draw at
Old Trafford by Everton. 28th:
Southampton are promoted to the Premier League after a seven-year exile, achieving promotion for the second year running.
Shrewsbury Town secure automatic promotion to League One.
Macclesfield Town drop back into the Conference after 15 years in the
Football League. 30th: April ends with Manchester City top of the Premier League after a 1–0 home win over rivals Manchester United, who are level on point with City but wield an inferior goal difference – both have two games left to play. The race for the last two Champions League places is reaching its climax, with five points separating Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle and Chelsea, although Arsenal have played one game more. However, should Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final the West London team will automatically qualify for the Champions League regardless of their final place in the table. Everton's belated challenge for European qualification is over; the sole remaining aim of the season is to finish above archrivals Liverpool, who are two points behind in eighth. Wolves have already been relegated, while Blackburn and Bolton (the latter with a game in hand) remain in the bottom three, but QPR, Wigan and Aston Villa are not yet certain of safety. In the Championship, Reading and Southampton have achieved promotion to the Premier League. West Ham, Birmingham, Blackpool and Cardiff will compete in the play-offs, while Portsmouth, Coventry and Doncaster are relegated.
May 2012 1st: Roy Hodgson of West Bromwich Albion is confirmed as the next England Manager. Manchester City go top of the Premier League on goal difference with two games remaining with a 1–0 home win over United. 5th: Chelsea win the FA Cup with a 2–1 victory over Liverpool. On the Final Day of the season for League One Sheffield Wednesday pipped Sheffield United to the second automatic promotion slot beating already relegated Wycombe Wanderers 2–0, whilst Stevenage cemented their place in the Play-offs with a 3–0 victory over Bury (Huddersfield Town and Milton Keynes Dons make up the rest of Play-off positions). In League Two Crawley Town won back to back promotions to League One with a 2–1 victory at Accrington Stanley. Southend United, Torquay United, Cheltenham Town and Crewe Alexandra make up the Play-offs. At the other end of the table Barnet survived to fight another season in League Two after beating Burton Albion, this result condemned Hereford United to Conference Football next season. 6th: Manchester City remain top of the Premier League with a 2–0 win at Newcastle United, but their neighbours remain level on points with them by beating Swansea 2–0 at
Old Trafford. 7th: Blackburn are relegated from the Premier League after a 1–0 home defeat by Wigan Athletic, ending an 11-year stint in the top flight – the result confirms Wigan's Premier League status for an eighth successive season. Bolton Wanderers occupy the final remaining relegation place and need to win their final game of the season to stand any chance of survival. The only other team in real danger of relegation are QPR, as Aston Villa's much better goal difference means that they will almost certainly stay up. 13th: Manchester City scored twice in stoppage time to be crowned champions for the first time since 1968 as they beat Queens Park Rangers to win the Premier League on goal difference from Manchester United. In scenes of near bedlam, City looked to be suffering a dramatic collapse as QPR – safe after Stoke City drew with Bolton – held on to an unlikely advantage with United leading at Sunderland.
Edin Džeko equalised in the second of five minutes of stoppage time before
Sergio Agüero scored the goal that won the title. 19th: West Ham United are promoted to the Premier League after beating Blackpool 2–1 at the 2012 Championship Play-Off final at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea won the
UEFA Champions League after beating Bayern Munich 4–3 at penalties following a 1–1 draw. ==New clubs==