| Competition: | Premier League |
| Season: | 2010–11 |
| Pixels: | 200 |
| Dates: | 14 August 2010 – 22 May 2011 |
| Winners: | Manchester United 12th Premier League title 19th English title |
| Relegated: | Birmingham City Blackpool West Ham United |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Manchester United Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Tottenham Hotspur Birmingham City Stoke City Fulham (through UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking) |
| League Topscorer Section: | Top scorers |
| League Topscorer: | Dimitar Berbatov Carlos Tevez (20 goals each) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Joe Hart (18 clean sheets) |
| Biggest Home Win: | (14 August 2010) (21 August 2010) (22 August 2010) (27 November 2010) |
| Biggest Away Win: | (21 August 2010) |
| Highest Scoring: | (27 November 2010) (5 February 2011) (5 February 2011) |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1063 |
| Longest Wins: | 5 games Chelsea |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 24 games Manchester United |
| Longest Winless: | 10 games Blackburn Rovers |
| Longest Losses: | 5 games Blackpool Bolton Wanderers West Bromwich Albion West Ham United |
| Highest Attendance: | 75,486 (19 March 2011) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 14,042 Wigan Athletic 2–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers (2 October 2010) |
| Average Attendance: | 35,190 |
| Attendance: | 13,372,318 |
| Prevseason: | 2009–10 |
| Nextseason: | 2011–12 |
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.[1] The season began on 14 August 2010,[2] and ended on 22 May 2011. Chelsea were the defending champions.[3]
Manchester United secured the title with a 1–1 draw away to Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011.[4] [5] This was their nineteenth English league title, breaking a tie with Liverpool which had stood since Manchester United won their eighteenth title in 2009.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] Birmingham City were also down after Roman Pavlyuchenko scored an injury-time winner for Tottenham at White Hart Lane.[9] 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.
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.[10]
All of the Premier League teams submitted their 25-man squads on 1 September 2010 deadline.[11]
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.
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
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 sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal |  |  | Nike | Emirates | |
| Aston Villa | | Nike | FxPro | ||
| Birmingham City |  | Xtep | F&C Investments | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | Umbro | Crown Paints | |||
| Blackpool | Carbrini | Wonga.com | |||
| Bolton Wanderers | | Reebok | 188BET | ||
| Chelsea |  | Adidas | Samsung | ||
| Everton | Le Coq Sportif | Chang Beer | |||
| Fulham | Kappa | FxPro | |||
| Liverpool | Adidas | Standard Chartered | |||
| Manchester City | |  | Umbro | Etihad Airways | |
| Manchester United | Nike | Aon | |||
| Newcastle United | Puma | Northern Rock | |||
| Stoke City | Adidas | Britannia | |||
| Sunderland | Umbro | Tombola | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Puma | Autonomy | |||
| West Bromwich Albion | Umbro | Homeserve | |||
| West Ham United | (caretaker) | Macron | SBOBET | ||
| Wigan Athletic | | MiFit | 188BET | ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | | BURRDA | Sportingbet |
Nike 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.[13] 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.[14]
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ham United | Gianfranco Zola | Sacked | 11 May 2010[15] | Pre-season |  Avram Grant | 3 June 2010[16] |
| Liverpool | Rafael Benítez | Mutual agreement | 3 June 2010[17] | Roy Hodgson | 1 July 2010[18] | |
| Fulham | Roy Hodgson | Signed by Liverpool | 1 July 2010 | Mark Hughes | 29 July 2010[19] | |
| Aston Villa | Martin O'Neill | Resigned | 9 August 2010[20] | Gérard Houllier | 8 September 2010[21] | |
| Newcastle United | Chris Hughton | Sacked | 6 December 2010[22] | 11th | Alan Pardew | 9 December 2010[23] |
| Blackburn Rovers | Sam Allardyce | 13 December 2010[24] | 13th | Steve Kean | 22 December 2010[25] | |
| Liverpool | Roy Hodgson | Mutual consent | 8 January 2011[26] | 12th | Kenny Dalglish | 8 January 2011 |
| West Bromwich Albion | Roberto Di Matteo | Sacked | 6 February 2011[27] | 16th | Roy Hodgson | 11 February 2011[28] |
| West Ham United | Avram Grant | 15 May 2011[29] | 20th (relegated) | (caretaker) | 15 May 2011 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[33] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimitar Berbatov | Manchester United | 20 |
| Carlos Tevez | Manchester City | 20 | |
| 3 |  Robin van Persie | Arsenal | 18 |
| 4 | Darren Bent | Sunderland/Aston Villa | 17 |
| 5 |  Peter Odemwingie | West Bromwich Albion | 15 |
| 6 | DJ Campbell | Blackpool | 13 |
| Andy Carroll | Newcastle/Liverpool | 13 | |
 Javier Hernández | Manchester United | 13 | |
| Dirk Kuyt | Liverpool | 13 | |
| Florent Malouda | Chelsea | 13 | |
| Rafael van der Vaart | Tottenham Hotspur | 13 |
See main article: List of Premier League 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 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Hart | Manchester City | 18 |
| 2 | Petr Čech | Chelsea | 15 |
| 3 | Pepe Reina | Liverpool | 14 |
| Edwin van der Sar | Manchester United | ||
| 5 | Mark Schwarzer | Fulham | 11 |
| 6 | Ben Foster | Birmingham City | 9 |
| Tim Howard | Everton | ||
| 8 | Asmir Begovic | Stoke City | 8 |
| Simon Mignolet | Sunderland | ||
| Paul Robinson | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
| August | Carlo Ancelotti | Chelsea | Paul Scholes | Manchester United | [35] |
| September | Roberto Di Matteo | West Bromwich Albion | Peter Odemwingie | West Bromwich Albion | [36] |
| October | David Moyes | Everton | Rafael van der Vaart | Tottenham Hotspur | [37] |
| November | Owen Coyle | Bolton Wanderers |  Johan Elmander | Bolton Wanderers | [38] |
| December | Roberto Mancini | Manchester City | Samir Nasri | Arsenal | [39] |
| January | Sir Alex Ferguson | Manchester United | Dimitar Berbatov | Manchester United | [40] |
| February | Arsène Wenger | Arsenal | Scott Parker | West Ham United | [41] |
| March | Carlo Ancelotti | Chelsea |  David Luiz | Chelsea | [42] |
| April | Peter Odemwingie | West Bromwich Albion | [43] [44] | ||
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, 69, received the Premier League Manager of the Season.
The Premier League Player of the Season award was won by Nemanja Vidić of Manchester United.[45]
The PFA Players' Player of the Year was awarded to Gareth Bale.
| PFA Team of the Year[46] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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) | |||||||||||
The PFA Young Player of the Year was awarded to Jack Wilshere.[47]
The FWA Footballer of the Year was awarded to Scott Parker.[48]
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.[49]
The Premier League Golden Glove award was won by Joe Hart of Manchester City.[50]
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.[51] 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.[52]
The PFA Fans' Player of the Year was awarded to Raul Meireles.[53]