2010–11 Premier League
Introduction The '''2010–11 Premier League''' (known as the '''Barclays Premier League''' for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992.The 2010–11 fixtures were released on 17 June 2010 at 09:00 BST. The season began on 14 August 2010, and ended on 22 May 2011.Chelsea were the defending champions.Manchester United secured the title with a 1–1 draw away to Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011.This was their nineteenth English league title, breaking a tie with Liverpool which had stood since Manchester United won their eighteenth title in 2009.Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal all secured a berth for the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, while Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League via league position.On 15 May 2011, West Ham United were the first team to be relegated to the Championship, following a 3–2 defeat away to Wigan Athletic. Two more relegation spots were to be confirmed going into the final day of the season, with five teams (Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Blackpool, and Wigan Athletic) all at threat of the drop. Blackburn secured their top flight status with a 3–2 away win over Wolves. Blackpool were relegated after losing 4–2 to champions Manchester United at Old Trafford, despite having led at one point. Birmingham City were also down after Roman Pavlyuchenko scored an injury-time winner for Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Both of these results allowed Wolves to avoid the drop by one point, despite their loss to Blackburn, while Wigan, who were in the bottom three prior to kick-off, extended their Premier League stay to seven consecutive seasons after a 1–0 win away at Stoke City.
Rule changes The Premier League introduced a cap on the number of players in a squad. From this season onwards, clubs had to declare a squad of no more than 25 players when the summer transfer window shuts, and then again at the end of the January transfer window. Players aged 21 and under could be selected without being registered in the 25.Also being introduced this season was the "home grown players" rule, which aims to encourage the development of young footballers at Premier League clubs. The new rule required clubs to name at least eight players in their squad of 25 players that have been registered domestically for a minimum of three seasons prior to their 21st birthday.All of the Premier League teams submitted their 25-man squads on 1 September 2010 deadline.
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion (both teams returning after a season's absence), and Blackpool (returning after a thirty-nine-year absence). This was also Blackpool's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Burnley, Hull City and Portsmouth, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of one, two and seven years respectively.===Stadiums and locations===:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium Capacity1 Arsenal London  Emirates Stadium  Aston Villa Birmingham  Villa Park  Birmingham City Birmingham  St Andrew's  Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Ewood Park  Blackpool Blackpool Bloomfield Road  Bolton Wanderers Bolton Reebok Stadium  Chelsea London  Stamford Bridge  Everton Liverpool  Goodison Park  Fulham London  Craven Cottage  Liverpool Liverpool  Anfield  Manchester City Manchester  City of Manchester Stadium  Manchester United Manchester  Old Trafford  Newcastle United Newcastle upon Tyne St James' Park  Stoke City Stoke-on-Trent Britannia Stadium  Sunderland Sunderland Stadium of Light  Tottenham Hotspur London  White Hart Lane  West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich The Hawthorns  West Ham United London  Boleyn Ground  Wigan Athletic Wigan DW Stadium  Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Molineux Stadium * 1 Correct as of start of 2010–11 Premier League season===Personnel and kits===Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsorArsenal  NikeEmiratesAston Villa  NikeFxProBirmingham City  XtepF&C InvestmentsBlackburn Rovers  UmbroCrown PaintsBlackpool  CarbriniWonga.comBolton Wanderers  Reebok188BETChelsea  AdidasSamsungEverton  Le Coq SportifChang BeerFulham  KappaFxProLiverpool  AdidasStandard CharteredManchester City  UmbroEtihad AirwaysManchester United  NikeAonNewcastle United  PumaNorthern RockStoke City  AdidasBritanniaSunderland  UmbroTombolaTottenham Hotspur  PumaAutonomyWest Bromwich Albion  UmbroHomeserveWest Ham United  (caretaker) MacronSBOBETWigan Athletic  MiFit188BETWolverhampton Wanderers  BURRDASportingbetNike produced a new match ball, the Nike Total 90 Tracer, which was electric blue, black and white during the autumn and spring. A high-visibility version in yellow was released for the winter. Additionally, Umbro provided officials with new kits in black, lime green, yellow, red and cyan blue for the season. Tune Ventures, parent company of Air Asia, took over as sponsor of the referee kits for the next three seasons.===Managerial changes===TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyTableIncoming managerDate of appointmentWest Ham United Gianfranco ZolaSacked 11 May 2010  ''Pre-season'' Avram Grant3 June 2010Liverpool Rafael BenítezMutual agreement3 June 2010 Roy Hodgson1 July 2010Fulham Roy HodgsonSigned by Liverpool1 July 2010 Mark Hughes29 July 2010Aston Villa Martin O'NeillResigned9 August 2010 Gérard Houllier8 September 2010Newcastle United Chris Hughton Sacked6 December 201011th Alan Pardew9 December 2010Blackburn Rovers Sam Allardyce13 December 201013th Steve Kean22 December 2010Liverpool Roy HodgsonMutual consent8 January 201112th Kenny Dalglish8 January 2011West Bromwich Albion Roberto Di Matteo Sacked6 February 201116th Roy Hodgson11 February 2011West Ham United Avram Grant15 May 201120th (relegated)  (caretaker)15 May 2011
League table
Results
Season statistics ===Scoring===*First goal of the season: Stewart Downing for Aston Villa against West Ham United (''14 August 2010'')*Fastest goal of the season: '''30 seconds''' – Maxi Rodríguez for Liverpool against Fulham (''9 May 2011'')*Widest winning margin: '''6 goals'''**Chelsea 6–0 West Bromwich Albion (''14 August 2010'')**Arsenal 6–0 Blackpool (''21 August 2010'')**Wigan Athletic 0–6 Chelsea (''21 August 2010'')**Newcastle United 6–0 Aston Villa (''22 August 2010'')**Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (''27 November 2010'')*Highest scoring game: '''8 goals'''** Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (''27 November 2010'')** Everton 5–3 Blackpool (''5 February 2011'')** Newcastle United 4–4 Arsenal (''5 February 2011'')*Most goals scored in a match by a single team: '''7 goals''' – Manchester United 7–1 Blackburn Rovers (''27 November 2010'')*Fewest games failed to score in: '''5''' – Manchester United*Most games failed to score in: '''13'''** Stoke City** West Ham United** Wigan Athletic====Top scorers====RankPlayerClubGoals1 Dimitar Berbatov Manchester United20 Carlos TevezManchester City203 Robin van PersieArsenal184 Darren BentSunderland/Aston Villa175 Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich Albion156 DJ CampbellBlackpool13 Andy CarrollNewcastle/Liverpool13 Javier HernándezManchester United13 Dirk KuytLiverpool13 Florent MaloudaChelsea13 Rafael van der VaartTottenham Hotspur13====Hat-tricks==== Player For  Against  Result  Date  Chelsea West Bromwich Albion   6–0    Arsenal Blackpool   6–0    Newcastle United Aston Villa   6–0    Manchester United  Liverpool   3–2   Newcastle United  Sunderland   5–1  5  Manchester United  Blackburn Rovers   7–1    Manchester City  Aston Villa   4–0    Newcastle United  West Ham United   5–0    Manchester United  Birmingham City   5–0     Arsenal  Wigan Athletic   3–0    Manchester City  West Bromwich Albion   3–0  4  Everton  Blackpool   5–3    Liverpool  Manchester United   3–1    Manchester United  West Ham United   4–2    Liverpool  Birmingham City   5–0    Liverpool  Fulham   5–2    West Bromwich Albion  Newcastle United   3–3  * 4 Player scored four goals* 5 Player scored five goals====Most assists====RankPlayerClubAssists1 NaniManchester United142 Didier DrogbaChelsea133 Andrey ArshavinArsenal11 Leighton BainesEverton Cesc FàbregasArsenal Wayne RooneyManchester United7 Ashley YoungAston Villa108 Joey BartonNewcastle United9 Chris BruntWest Bromwich Albion10 Charlie AdamLiverpool8 Jermaine PennantStoke City Rafael van der VaartTottenham Hotspur===Clean sheets=======Player====RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Joe HartManchester City182 Petr ČechChelsea153 Pepe ReinaLiverpool14 Edwin van der SarManchester United5 Mark SchwarzerFulham116 Ben FosterBirmingham City9 Tim HowardEverton8 Asmir BegovicStoke City8 Simon MignoletSunderland Paul RobinsonBlackburn Rovers====Club====*Most clean sheets: '''18''' – Manchester City*Fewest clean sheets: '''2''' – West Bromwich Albion===Discipline=======Club====*Worst overall disciplinary record (1 point per yellow card, 3 points per red card):** Manchester City – '''89 points''' (74 yellow & 5 red cards)*Best overall disciplinary record:** Blackpool – '''53 points''' (47 yellow & 2 red cards)*Most yellow cards: '''75''' – Newcastle United*Most red cards: '''7''' – West Bromwich Albion====Player====*Most yellow cards: '''14''' – Cheick Tioté (Newcastle United)*Most red cards: '''2'''**Lee Cattermole (Sunderland)**Craig Gardner (Birmingham City)**Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)**Youssouf Mulumbu (West Bromwich Albion)**Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City)*Most fouls: '''115''' – Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers)
Awards ===Monthly awards===MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthReferenceManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Carlo AncelottiChelsea Paul ScholesManchester UnitedSeptember Roberto Di MatteoWest Bromwich Albion Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich AlbionOctober David MoyesEverton Rafael van der VaartTottenham HotspurNovember Owen CoyleBolton Wanderers Johan ElmanderBolton WanderersDecember Roberto ManciniManchester City Samir NasriArsenalJanuary Sir Alex FergusonManchester United Dimitar BerbatovManchester UnitedFebruary Arsène WengerArsenal Scott ParkerWest Ham UnitedMarch  Carlo Ancelotti Chelsea David LuizChelseaApril Peter OdemwingieWest Bromwich Albion===Annual awards=======Premier League Manager of the Season====Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, 69, received the Premier League Manager of the Season.====Premier League Player of the Season====The Premier League Player of the Season award was won by Nemanja Vidić of Manchester United.====PFA Players' Player of the Year====The PFA Players' Player of the Year was awarded to Gareth Bale.====PFA Team of the Year==== PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United) Defenders Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United) Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) Ashley Cole (Chelsea) Midfielders Nani (Manchester United) Samir Nasri (Arsenal) Jack Wilshere (Arsenal) Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) Forwards Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United)====PFA Young Player of the Year====The PFA Young Player of the Year was awarded to Jack Wilshere.====FWA Footballer of the Year====The FWA Footballer of the Year was awarded to Scott Parker.====Premier League Golden Boot====Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United and Carlos Tevez of Manchester City shared the Premier League Golden Boot this season, both finishing with 20 goals. Berbatov's 20 goals came in 32 appearances, with Tevez's 20 goals coming in 31 appearances. This was the first time either player had won the award, and the first time it had been shared since the 1998–99 season.====Premier League Golden Glove====The Premier League Golden Glove award was won by Joe Hart of Manchester City.====Premier League Fair Play Award====The Premier League Fair Play Award was won by Fulham, who finished on top of the Fair Play Table. Newcastle United were deemed to be the least sporting team, finishing bottom of the table. Due to England being one of the three best teams in the UEFA Fair Play rankings, Fulham as the highest-ranked team not already qualified for a European competition were awarded a spot in the first qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.====PFA Fans' Player of the Year====The PFA Fans' Player of the Year was awarded to Raul Meireles.
References