2010–11 Football League Championship

Football league season

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,^[3] 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.^[4]

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Barnsley

Bristol City

Burnley

Cardiff City

Coventry City

Crystal Palace

Derby County

Doncaster Rovers

Hull City

Ipswich Town

Leeds United

Leicester City

Middlesbrough

Millwall

Norwich City

Nottingham Forest

Portsmouth

Preston North End

QPR

Reading

Scunthorpe United

Sheffield United

Swansea City

Watford

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Locations of teams in the 2010–11 Football League Championship

Personnel and sponsoring

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

Ownership changes

League table

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2011. Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Play-offs

Semi-finals

12 May 2011

19:45

City Ground, Nottingham

Attendance: 27,881

Referee: Mike Dean

16 May 2011

19:45

Liberty Stadium, Swansea

Attendance: 19,816

Referee: Andre Marriner

Swansea City won 3 – 1 on aggregate.

13 May 2011

19:45

Madejski Stadium, Reading

Attendance: 21,485

Referee: Mark Halsey

17 May 2011

19:45

Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance: 24,081

Referee: Howard Webb

Reading won 3 – 0 on aggregate.

Final

30 May 2011

15:00

Wembley Stadium, London

Attendance: 86,581

Referee: Phil Dowd

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.^[39]

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2011. Source: The Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Hat-tricks

Scoring

• First goal of the season: John Eustace for Watford against Norwich City (6 August 2010)^[42]
• Highest scoring game: 10 goals – Leeds United 4–6 Preston North End (28 September 2010)^[1]
• Most goals scored in a game by one team: 6 goals^[1]
  • 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^[1]
  • 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^[1]
• Most games failed to score in: 21 – Scunthorpe United^[1]

Discipline

• Most yellow cards (club): 86 – Leeds United^[43]
• Most yellow cards (player): 12^[43]
  • Robbie Savage (Derby County)
• Most red cards (club): 13 – Sheffield United^[43]
• Most red cards (player): 2^[43]
  • 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^[43]
• Most fouls (player): 103 – Grant Holt (Norwich City)^[43]

Clean sheets

• Most clean sheets: 25 – Queens Park Rangers^[1]
• Fewest clean sheets: 4 – Preston North End^[1]

Monthly awards

Team of the year

References

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