| Club: | Swindon Town |
| Season: | 2011–12 |
| Manager: | Paolo Di Canio |
| Mgrtitle: | Manager |
| Chairman: | Jeremy Wray |
| Chrtitle: | Chairman |
| Stdtitle: | Ground |
| Stadium: | County Ground, Swindon |
| League: | League Two |
| League Result: | 1st (champions) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 4th Round |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 2nd Round |
| Cup3: | FL Trophy |
| Cup3 Result: | Runners-up |
| League Topscorer: | Paul Benson (12) Alan Connell (12) |
| Season Topscorer: | Alan Connell (13) |
| Highest Attendance: | 13,238 vs. Wigan Athletic, 8 January 2012 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,329 vs AFC Wimbledon, 8 November 2011 |
| Pattern La1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Sh1: | _adidaswhite |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_white |
| Leftarm1: | FF1000 |
| Body1: | FF0000 |
| Rightarm1: | FF0000 |
| Shorts1: | FF0000 |
| Socks1: | FF0000 |
| Pattern La2: | _shoulder_stripes_red_stripes |
| Pattern Ra2: | _shoulder_stripes_red_stripes |
| Pattern Sh2: | _red_stripes_adidas |
| Pattern So2: | _color_3_stripes_red |
| Leftarm2: | 000000 |
| Body2: | 000000 |
| Rightarm2: | 000000 |
| Shorts2: | 000000 |
| Socks2: | 000000 |
| Pattern La3: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Ra3: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern Sh3: | _adidasred |
| Pattern So3: | _color_3_stripes_white |
| Leftarm3: | FF1000 |
| Body3: | FF0000 |
| Rightarm3: | FF0000 |
| Shorts3: | FFFFFF |
| Socks3: | FF0000 |
| Prevseason: | 2010–11 |
| Nextseason: | 2012–13 |
The 2011–12 season was Swindon Town's first season in the League Two since 2006–07. Under the management of former AC Milan, Lazio, Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham United footballer Paolo Di Canio, Swindon were successful in winning their first trophy since 1996 after securing the League Two championship. Town were also runners-up in the Football League Trophy, losing to Chesterfield at Wembley Stadium. The club also competed in the FA Cup, beating Premier League outfit Wigan Athletic and the League Cup.
||||
The club's early pre-season was dominated by reports of who would replace Paul Hart as the new manager of Swindon Town. Hart had left the club before the end of the 2010–11 season after the club's relegation had been confirmed. Hart was replaced by youth team manager Paul Bodin had managed the club on a caretaker basis. Previously, chairman Andrew Fitton also resigned in April and was replaced by fellow board member Jeremy Wray who was immediately placed with the responsibility of appointing a new manager.
Names mentioned for the Town job included Bodin, George Burley, Paul Trollope, Dietmar Hamann, John Hughes, Gus McPherson and Paolo Di Canio. In early May the tabloid newspapers were linking Di Canio with an unlikely move to the club. Di Canio had enjoyed a popular but sometimes controversial career in England with Sheffield Wednesday and with West Ham United where he became a cult figure. On 20 May, the appointment was confirmed with fellow Italians Fabrizio Piccareta (assistant), Claudio Donatelli (fitness) and Domenico Doardo (goalkeeping) joining the club as Di Canio's coaching staff, caretaker manager Paul Bodin reverted to his position as youth team manager.
Before the arrival of Di Canio, interim chairman Jeremy Wray announced that he would be arranging one-to-one meetings with the entire playing squad to discuss their futures. The outcome was a mass clear-out but it began with players initially declaring an interest in remaining at the club. David Prutton talked of "putting things right" before leaving to join Sheffield Wednesday shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, Scott Cuthbert told the press that he would be "delighted" to remain at Swindon but the club decided against triggering a clause on his contract to extend his deal but were rumoured to be open in renegotiating a new deal but Cuthbert later joined Leyton Orient. Former Swindon Town Player of the Year Jonathan Douglas looked set to sign a new contract but eventually turned it down for a move to Brentford.
Swindon Town returned to pre-season on 29 June 2011. During the summer, Swindon spent 10 days in Italy at a training camp in Norcia, Umbria. During the course of the week Town played two friendlies against local select sides Norcia XI and Marche XI. Upon returning to England, Swindon visited local Non-League clubs Swindon Supermarine and Cirencester Town. Both fixtures concluded in 4–0 victories for Swindon Town. The club concluded their Pre-Season with a 1–2 loss to Football League Championship outfit Reading.
See main article: 2011–12 Football League Two. The fixtures for the 2011–12 season were announced on 17 June at 09:00 BST, and revealed that Swindon will begin their League Two campaign with a home fixture against Crewe Alexandra.
See main article: 2011–12 Football League Cup. Swindon's Carling Cup round 1 tie against Bristol City drawn to be played on 9 August 2011 was postponed on police advice. This was due to fears of safety issues following the riots throughout England, including Bristol.
See main article: 2011–12 Football League Trophy.
See main article: 2012 Football League Trophy Final.
See main article: 2011–12 FA Cup. As a member of League Two, Swindon Town will enter the FA Cup at the First Round stage.
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Jeremy Wray (interim) | |
| Directors | Jeremy Wray, Russell Backhouse, Andrew Black, Nick Watkins | |
| Chief Executive | Nick Watkins | |
| Manager |  Paolo Di Canio | |
| Assistant manager | Fabrizio Piccareta | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Domenico Doardo | |
| Fitness coach | Claudio Donatelli | |
| Youth Team Manager | Paul Bodin | |
| Centre of Excellence | Jeremy Newton | |
| Physio | Paul Godfrey |
As of 6 May 2012. Only competitive matches are counted
Accounts for all competitions. Last updated on 6 May 2012.
| width=10% | No. | width=10% | Pos. | width=40% | Name | width=20% | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | DF/MF |  Oliver Risser | 3 | ||||
| 6 | DF | Paul Caddis | 47 | ||||
| 12 | DF/MF | Alan McCormack | 8 |
|-|colspan="14"|LOAN PLAYERS WHO HAVE SINCE LEFT SWINDON (Statistics shown are the appearances made and goals scored while at Swindon Town)|-|colspan="14"|Players who left the club on a permanent basis during the season:|}
| Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | JP Trophy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | ||
| 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| OWN GOALS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 74 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 91 |
Includes all competitive matches.
| width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=15 | width=150 | Name | width=150 | Competition | width=200 | Opposition | width=50 | Success | width=150 | Technique | width=150 | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | DF | Callum Kennedy | League Two | vs. Crewe Alexandra (6 August 2011) | Bottom left corner | |||||||||||||
| 2 | 39 | FW | Mehdi Kerrouche | League Two | vs. Port Vale (5 November 2011) | Top left corner | |||||||||||||
| 3 | 17 | FW | Alan Connell | Football League Trophy | vs. AFC Wimbledon (8 November 2011) | Top left corner | Penalty Shoot-Out | ||||||||||||
| 4 | 13 | MF | | Oliver Risser | Football League Trophy | vs. AFC Wimbledon (8 November 2011) | Top left corner | Penalty Shoot-Out | |||||||||||
| 5 | 11 | MF | Etiënne Esajas | Football League Trophy | vs. AFC Wimbledon (8 November 2011) | Middle right | Penalty Shoot-Out | ||||||||||||
| 6 | 10 | MF | Matt Ritchie | League Two | vs. Macclesfield Town (21 January 2012) | Missed target | |||||||||||||
| 7 | 2 | DF | Paul Caddis | League Two | vs. Hereford United (18 February 2012) | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | DF | Paul Caddis | League Two | vs. Aldershot Town (17 April 2012) | ||||||||||||||