2011/12 Premier League season review
Manchester City won the 2011/12 Premier League on goal difference, the only Premier League title decided that way. They and Manchester United both finished on 89 points, and City's first league title since 1968 came from Sergio Agüero's goal at 93:20 of the final game, against QPR.
In Fantasy Premier League, Robin van Persie was the top scorer with 269 points, and Sam Pater won the overall game with 2,414 points after finishing level with the runner-up until bonus points were confirmed the next day.
You can replay the season here with a £100m squad picked from 339 players across all 20 clubs, or read on for how it unfolded.
Before the season: new managers and the first Welsh club
Manchester United started 2011/12 as champions, and Manchester City as FA Cup winners. City added Sergio Agüero, who would score 23 league goals in his first season in England.
Chelsea had sacked Carlo Ancelotti at the end of the previous season and appointed André Villas-Boas on 22 June 2011. Aston Villa replaced Gérard Houllier with Alex McLeish, and Fulham replaced Mark Hughes with Martin Jol.
The promoted clubs were Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City, who won the Championship play-off final 4-2 against Reading. Swansea became the first Welsh club to play in the Premier League.
How City won the title on goal difference
The two Manchester clubs set the pace from August. United beat Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford on 28 August, with Wayne Rooney scoring a hat-trick, in the highest-scoring game of the season. City went unbeaten in their first 14 league games, winning 12, and on 23 October they won 6-1 at Old Trafford. That result put them five points clear.
City's first league defeat came on 12 December, and United gradually reeled them in. Paul Scholes came out of retirement in January, and United led the table from mid-February. By early April, United were eight points clear.
The lead disappeared in three weeks:
- 11 April: United lost 1-0 at Wigan.
- 22 April: United drew 4-4 at home to Everton.
- 30 April: City beat United 1-0 at the Etihad, Vincent Kompany heading in on the stroke of half-time, and went top on goal difference with three games left.
City won their last six games. On the final day, 13 May 2012, United won 1-0 at Sunderland through Rooney's 20th-minute goal and waited on the pitch for news from Manchester. City needed to beat QPR, who were fighting relegation:
- Pablo Zabaleta put City ahead in the 39th minute.
- Djibril Cissé equalised early in the second half, and Joey Barton was sent off soon afterwards.
- Jamie Mackie gave ten-man QPR a 2-1 lead in the 66th minute.
- Edin Džeko headed an equaliser in the 92nd minute, from City's 19th corner of the game.
- Sergio Agüero scored the winner at 93:20 on the clock, after a pass from Mario Balotelli.
City finished level with United on 89 points but with a goal difference of +64 to United's +56. It was the club's first league title in 44 years. They won 18 and drew one of their 19 home games, and Kompany was named the Premier League's Player of the Season.
Europe, Chelsea's strange season and the relegation fight
The race for the other European places produced one of the oddest outcomes of the Premier League era:
- Arsenal recovered from their 8-2 defeat to finish third on 70 points. Robin van Persie scored 30 league goals and won both the PFA and Football Writers' awards.
- Tottenham finished fourth on 69 points, but Chelsea's Champions League win took the extra place, sending Tottenham into the Europa League and costing Harry Redknapp his job. Kyle Walker was PFA Young Player of the Year.
- Newcastle finished fifth, their first top-six finish in eight years, and Alan Pardew was Manager of the Season.
- Chelsea finished sixth, their worst league season in ten years. Villas-Boas was sacked on 4 March 2012 and Roberto Di Matteo took over the same day. Under Di Matteo, Chelsea won the FA Cup, beating Liverpool 2-1, and then the Champions League, beating Bayern Munich on penalties.
- Liverpool finished eighth, their lowest league position in 18 years, despite winning the League Cup on penalties against Cardiff. Luis Suárez was found to have racially abused Patrice Evra, and Kenny Dalglish was sacked after 16 months in charge.
At the bottom, all three promoted clubs survived. Wolves went down first, on 22 April, after losing 2-0 to Manchester City. They had sacked Mick McCarthy in February, and his successor, Terry Connor, didn't win any of his 13 league games in charge. Blackburn followed on 7 May after a 1-0 defeat to Wigan.
The last place went to Bolton, who needed to beat Stoke on the final day and drew 2-2. Their season had already been overshadowed in March, when Fabrice Muamba collapsed during an FA Cup quarter-final at White Hart Lane. His heart stopped for about 78 minutes, and he survived. QPR lost at City on the final day but stayed up on other results.
2011/12 Premier League final table
| # | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 93 | 29 | +64 | 89 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 89 | 33 | +56 | 89 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 74 | 49 | +25 | 70 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 66 | 41 | +25 | 69 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 65 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 65 | 46 | +19 | 64 |
| 7 | Everton | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 50 | 40 | +10 | 56 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 47 | 40 | +7 | 52 |
| 9 | Fulham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 48 | 51 | -3 | 52 |
| 10 | West Brom | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 52 | -7 | 47 |
| 11 | Swansea | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 44 | 51 | -7 | 47 |
| 12 | Norwich | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 52 | 66 | -14 | 47 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 45 | 46 | -1 | 45 |
| 14 | Stoke | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 36 | 53 | -17 | 45 |
| 15 | Wigan | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 62 | -20 | 43 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 37 | 53 | -16 | 38 |
| 17 | Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 43 | 66 | -23 | 37 |
| 18 | Bolton | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 46 | 77 | -31 | 36 |
| 19 | Blackburn | 38 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 48 | 78 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 | Wolves | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 40 | 82 | -42 | 25 |
The bottom three were relegated. In the game, every result behind this table plays out as it really happened.
2011/12 top scorers
| Player | Goals | Assists | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robin van Persie Arsenal | 30 | 9 | £11.5m |
| Wayne Rooney Manchester United | 27 | 4 | £10.0m |
| Sergio Agüero Manchester City | 23 | 8 | £9.5m |
| Yakubu Aiyegbeni Blackburn | 17 | 2 | £8.5m |
| Emmanuel Adebayor Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 11 | £9.0m |
| Clint Dempsey Fulham | 17 | 6 | £11.5m |
| Demba Ba Newcastle | 16 | 2 | £8.5m |
| Grant Holt Norwich | 15 | 2 | £8.0m |
| Edin Džeko Manchester City | 14 | 3 | £9.0m |
| Papiss Cissé Newcastle | 13 | 1 | £7.5m |
2011/12 assist leaders
| Player | Assists | Goals | Our price |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Silva Manchester City | 15 | 6 | £10.5m |
| Antonio Valencia Manchester United | 13 | 4 | £6.5m |
| Juan Mata Chelsea | 13 | 6 | £8.5m |
| Emmanuel Adebayor Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 17 | £9.0m |
| Alexandre Song Arsenal | 11 | 1 | £6.0m |
| Nani Manchester United | 10 | 8 | £9.5m |
| Gareth Bale Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | 9 | £10.0m |
| Samir Nasri Manchester City | 9 | 5 | £7.5m |
| Stéphane Sessègnon Sunderland | 9 | 7 | £7.5m |
| Robin van Persie Arsenal | 9 | 30 | £11.5m |
League goals and assists only. Players who moved clubs mid-season are listed under the club they played most for.
Surprises and disappointments
The promoted clubs were the season's quiet success story:
- Swansea finished 11th with 47 points in their first Premier League season under Brendan Rodgers. Danny Graham scored 12 league goals, and they beat Liverpool 1-0 on the final day.
- Norwich finished 12th, level on points with Swansea and West Brom.
- Newcastle went from promoted side to fifth place in two seasons.
- Robbie Keane came back to the Premier League on loan at Aston Villa from LA Galaxy and scored three goals in six games.
Others had seasons to forget:
- Manchester United threw away an eight-point lead in April and finished the season without a major trophy.
- Chelsea had their worst league season in ten years, even as they won the Champions League.
- Liverpool won a cup but finished eighth, and changed manager again.
- Wolves won five league games all season and finished bottom with 25 points.
- Tim Cahill scored two league goals in 35 games in his last season at Everton, before leaving for the New York Red Bulls in July 2012.
2011/12 in Fantasy Premier League
About 2.79 million managers played Fantasy Premier League in 2011/12. The finish was as close as the title race: Sam Pater, playing as SamCity, finished level on points with Garry Bothwell and had to wait a day for the bonus points to be confirmed. They went his way, and he won with 2,414 points.
Robin van Persie was the game's top scorer with 269 points, the reward for 30 league goals. Wayne Rooney (230) and Sergio Agüero (211) were next. Patrice Evra (159) was the top-scoring defender, and Joe Hart (166) was the top-scoring goalkeeper for a second season running.
The PFA Team of the Year
Manchester City supplied four players to the players' own Team of the Year, and Tottenham three.
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Joe Hart (Manchester City) |
| Defenders | Kyle Walker (Tottenham), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle), Leighton Baines (Everton) |
| Midfielders | David Silva (Manchester City), Yaya Touré (Manchester City), Scott Parker (Tottenham), Gareth Bale (Tottenham) |
| Forwards | Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) |
Agüero, whose goal won the title, wasn't in it.
The season's awards: Van Persie was PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year. Walker was PFA Young Player of the Year, Kompany the Premier League's Player of the Season, and Pardew Manager of the Season.
Most expensive players by position
The premium picks a £100m budget forces you to choose between in 2011/12.
Goalkeepers
- Tim Howard£6.0m
- David de Gea£6.0m
- Joe Hart£6.0m
Defenders
- Antonio Valencia£6.5m
- Ashley Young£6.5m
- Alexandre Song£6.0m
Midfielders
- Clint Dempsey£11.5m
- David Silva£10.5m
- Gareth Bale£10.0m
Forwards
- Robin van Persie£11.5m
- Wayne Rooney£10.0m
- Sergio Agüero£9.5m
2011/12 on Retro Fantasy Football
137 managers have finished a 2011/12 season on our leaderboard (as of October 2026). The best scores so far:
- 2,114 pts
- 2,094 pts
- 2,092 pts
- 2,080 pts
- 2,073 pts
Points follow our scoring rules. Think you can beat them?
2011/12 quick answers
Who won the Premier League in 2011/12? Manchester City, on goal difference. They and Manchester United both finished on 89 points.
When did Agüero score the title-winning goal? At 93:20 on the clock, in City's 3-2 win over QPR on 13 May 2012.
Who was relegated in 2011/12? Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Who was the Premier League top scorer in 2011/12? Robin van Persie, with 30 league goals.
Who was PFA Player of the Year in 2011/12? Robin van Persie. Kyle Walker was Young Player of the Year.
Who scored the most FPL points in 2011/12? Robin van Persie, with 269.
Who won Fantasy Premier League in 2011/12? Sam Pater, with 2,414 points.