2011–12 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City

2011–12 season
Chairman	Peter Coates
Manager	Tony Pulis
Stadium	Britannia Stadium
Premier League	14th (45 points)
FA Cup	Quarter Final
League Cup	Fourth Round
UEFA Europa League	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Peter Crouch (10) All: Peter Crouch (14)
Highest home attendance	27,789 v Bolton Wanderers (13 May 2012)
Lowest home attendance	26,500 v Everton (1 May 2012)
Average home league attendance	27,216
Home colours Away colours
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 season was Stoke City's fourth season in the Premier League and the 56th in the top tier of English football. Because FA Cup winners Manchester City qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their third-place finish in the Premier League, as FA Cup runners-up, Stoke qualified for the UEFA Europa League.

Stoke's first excursion into European football for the first time since 1975 was a main talking point leading up to the 2011–12 season. Stoke were drawn against Croatian side Hajduk Split and after two legs ran out 2–0 winners. After beating FC Thun Stoke were handed a tough group containing Beşiktaş, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv which Stoke managed to progress through finishing in second position. City's reward was a tie against Spanish giants Valencia and despite putting up a spirited 2nd leg performance Stoke went out 2–0 on aggregate.

With 12 fixtures in Europe Stoke's Premier League form took a hit with some indifferent performances. The season started well with Stoke going four matches unbeaten and breaking the club's transfer record with the £10 million signing of Peter Crouch from Tottenham Hotspur. European football soon began to take its toll and with some poor defeats against the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers Stoke failed to really cement their position in the top half of the table and after picking up just four wins in the final half of the season Stoke finished in 14th position with 45 points.

Pre-season

The Stoke City squad returned to the club on 7 July before flying out to Austria for their annual training camp. Upon their return they played two of Tony Pulis's old clubs Newport County and Newport YMCA. Games against Football League sides Brentford, Aldershot Town and Sheffield Wednesday had also been arranged as well as the traditional match against Newcastle Town.^[1]

Whilst in Austria Stoke played a match against local part-time side SV Thal. Stoke won with three goals in the second half through Michael Tonge, Jonathan Walters and a very rare goal from Andy Wilkinson Thal scored a consolation via Erik Bischtand. Upon their return to England, Stoke travelled to Tony Pulis's home town of Newport for two matches against his former clubs. The first match saw City draw 1–1 with Newport County, County scored through their captain Gary Warren before Kenwyne Jones equalised after 75 minutes, he had the ball in the back of the net later on but it was ruled out for offside. The following day Stoke fielded a different team for the match against Newport YMCA. Goals from Ben Marshall, Diego Arismendi, Matthew Lund and Rory Delap gave Stoke an easy 6–1 victory. After the trip to South Wales Pulis said he 'enjoyed his return home'.^[2]

Stoke then scored another six against Newcastle Town in what was the 30th meeting between the two clubs. Stoke's goals came from Australian trialist Robert Stambolziev, Jermaine Pennant, Glenn Whelan Jonathan Walters, and a brace from Kenwyne Jones. City then suffered two poor results losing 1–0 to both Brentford and Aldershot. City ended their pre-season schedule with a 0–0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
1	14 July 2011	SV Thal	A	3–1	250	Tonge 58', Walters 74', Wilkinson 86'	Report
2	16 July 2011	Newport County	A	1–1	2,120	Jones 75'	Report
3	17 July 2011	Newport YMCA	A	6–1	200	Marshall (2) 19', 30', Lund 41', Arismendi (2) 65', 80', Delap 87'	Report
4	20 July 2011	Newcastle Town	A	6–0	3,146	Stambolziev 35', Jones (2) 47', 51', Pennant 54', Whelan 57', Walters 81'	Report
5	22 July 2011	Brentford	A	0–1	2,946		Report
6	23 July 2011	Aldershot Town	A	0–1	1,684		Report
7	30 July 2011	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–0	3,959		Report

Premier League

August

For the season opener against Chelsea manager Tony Pulis gave a league debut to Jonathan Woodgate with Robert Huth moving to right-back. For Chelsea they had new manager André Villas-Boas in charge for his first Premier League match. After an even first half Chelsea were the better side after the break with Asmir Begović making a number of important saves. After injuries to Matthew Etherington and Rory Delap, City went defensive and were able to claim a goalless draw.^[3]

After the Europa League match against Thun in Switzerland Stoke travelled to Norfolk to take on newly promoted Norwich City. Stoke started the match the better side but suffered a huge blow when Jermaine Pennant was forced off due to injury after half an hour. Norwich took the lead through former Stoke reserve team player Ritchie De Laet as "The Canaries" went into the break in the lead. After half time Stoke were awarded a penalty when Leon Barnett fouled Jonathan Walters however Norwich 'keeper John Ruddy saved Walters' effort. Stoke were able to get a result though as Kenwyne Jones headed in Whelan's cross in the 94th minute to deny Norwich the win.^[4]

Stoke's final match of August was against Midlands rivals West Brom at the Hawthorns. It turned to be a poor match with both teams struggleling to create clear goal scoring chances. With the match seemingly destined for a goalless draw "Baggies" keeper Ben Foster hesitated when under pressure from Ryan Shotton who was able to claim the ball and roll it into an empty net.^[5]

September

Stoke's new record signing Peter Crouch made his debut against his old club Liverpool following the international break. City scored the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Jamie Carragher brought down Walters in the penalty area who fired the ball past Pepe Reina. Liverpool produced a dominant second half performance with Luis Suárez being a large threat to the Stoke defence. Stoke had to defend well to keep their 1–0 lead intact and due to some last ditch defending were able to come away with the three points.^[6]

After a 1–1 in Kiev "The Potters" nine match unbeaten run was then ended in emphatic style by Sunderland on Wearside as Steve Bruce's side scored four goals without reply. Sunderland scored through Titus Bramble following a mistake from Begovic, an own goal from Woodgate, a deflected shot from Craig Gardner and a free-kick from Sebastian Larsson.^[7]

Manchester United arrived at the Britannia with a 100% winning start but had Wayne Rooney missing out due to injury. They suffered another injury early into the match when Javier Hernandez was substituted after colliding with Begovic and Woodgate. They went into the lead through a low shot from Nani after 26 minutes. Stoke almost equalised soon after through Wilkinson but David de Gea palmed his shot on to the post. Stoke's equaliser came after just half time with Peter Crouch scoring his first goal for "The Potters" since his move from Tottenham. Stoke had chances to win the match but de Gea made a number of fine saves. The final chance of the game fell to Ryan Giggs but he could only volley wide of the goal. It was the first time Stoke had gained a result against Manchester United in the Premier League.^[8]

October

Stoke made their first journey to Swansea City's Liberty Stadium following the Europa League win over Beşiktaş. However it proved to be a very poor afternoon for "The Potters" as two defensive errors allowed "The Jacks" score to twice through Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham.^[9]

Following the international break Stoke returned to Premier League football with the visit of Martin Jol's Fulham side. In what was a quite first half Stoke had two good chances to take the lead with Crouch and Pennant both guilty of poor finishing. In the second half Stoke were the dominant side but were finding it difficult to break down a stubborn "Cottagers" defence. The breakthrough came after 80 minutes when Jon Walters tapped in Matthew Etherington's wayward shot, moments earlier John Arne Riise's hit a powerful freekick that hit the Stoke crossbar. Three minutes from full-time Rory Delap scored a rare goal to seal a 2–0 win.^[10]

City's next game came at Arsenal on 23 October at the Emirates Stadium. After a quite opening half hour Gervinho broke the offside trap and put the ball past Begovic. However Stoke were not behind for long as a well worked free kick was finished off by Crouch from all of two yards. Any hopes Stoke had of claiming their first points at the Emirates were ended in the second half by sub Robin van Persie who scored twice.^[11]

On Halloween Stoke faced inform Newcastle United at the Britannia. It turned out to be a defensive "horror show" for City as former transfer target Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as both Shawcross and Wilson departed due to injury.^[12] Manager Pulis blamed his defence for conceding 'sloppy goals'.^[13]

November

Stoke ended a busy period with a woeful defeat against Bolton who reversed the scoreline from last season's FA Cup semi-final.^[14] Pulis branded his players performance as the worst since he returned to the club in 2006.^[15]

Following the two week international break Stoke had the opportunity to make amends for the Bolton defeat against newly promoted Queens Park Rangers. However more poor defending cost Stoke as goals from Luke Young and a brace from Heiðar Helguson earned Neil Warnock's team the points. Goals from Walters and Shawcross proved to be in vain for City as they fell to a fourth straight league defeat.^[16]

Stoke ended their losing run with victory over struggling Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia. After a cagey opening to the match Delap headed in a Pennant free kick to put City in front. Rovers almost levelled soon after the break when Rubén Rochina weaved his way through the penalty area only to see his cross totally missed by Mauro Formica. Two goals from Whelan and Crouch put Stoke in a comfortable position with Rochina replying for Rovers.^[17]

December

After securing European qualification against Dynamo Kyiv Stoke travelled to an emotional Goodison Park where the Everton fans were mourning the death of Gary Speed. Stoke produced a more familiar defensive performance than what was on show in November and came away with a rare away win thanks to Robert Huth's first goal of the season. There was one concern for Stoke as Thomas Sorensen had to be stretchered off with concussion.^[18]

In form Tottenham Hotspur travelled to the Britannia having gone eleven matches unbeaten. Stoke started with great pressure on the Spurs defence with Ryan Shotton's long throw-ins causing problems, and they led to both Stoke goals scored by Matthew Etherington to put City 2–0 in front at half time. Tottenham improved in the second half and pulled a goal back from the penalty spot, but Younès Kaboul was sent off and Stoke were able to claim the three points.^[19]

Stoke began the festive period with a short trip to Wolverhampton and received some early good fortune from referee Anthony Taylor. With Woodgate playing at right back he came up against Matt Jarvis and was booked for a late challenge early into the match. Woodgate continued to have problems with Jarvis and he gave away a penalty after 17 minutes however Taylor decided not to send him off much to the fury of Mick McCarthy.^[20] Hunt scored from the spot and Pulis substituted Woodgate and brought on Pennant and Stoke began to take control of the play. In the second half a Huth freekick was deflected in by Kevin Doyle and Peter Crouch scored the winning goal for Stoke in a 2–1 win. It was the first time that Stoke have won four Premier League matches in a row.^[21]

Stoke's winning run came to an end in their next match away at league leaders Manchester City in what was difficult evening for the "Potters". Under constant pressure from the start of the match Man City controlled the match and easily won 3–0 with a brace from Sergio Agüero and a trademark long range effort from Adam Johnson. Stoke had a tough time and failed to trouble an underworked Joe Hart.^[22]

The boxing day match against Aston Villa was played at an untraditional time of 7.45pm to accommodate live TV coverage. The match though was a bland and uneventful affair and finished unsurprisingly in a goalless draw. Marc Wilson had the best chance of the match as his header struck the crossbar late in the second half.^[23]

Stoke finished a successful 2011 with a 2–2 against Wigan Athletic. The "Latics" took the lead through Victor Moses just before half time following a well worked move. Stoke tried in vain to pull level until the 77th minute when Gary Caldwell handled on the line and was sent off. Walters calmly beat Ali Al-Habsi from the spot and soon after Cameron Jerome scored his first league goal for Stoke. However Stoke were denied a comeback with just moments after the Wigan restart they were awarded a penalty after Shotton had pulled Hugo Rodallega's shirt. Ben Watson came off the bench to take the penalty and sent Sorensen the wrong way.^[24]

January

The first match of 2012 saw Stoke travel to struggling Blackburn who surprisingly beat Manchester United in their previous match and Rovers started the match well with Chris Samba hitting the crossbar and having a goal ruled out for a foul on Sorensen. Stoke then began to take control of the contest and took the lead through Peter Crouch after seventeen minutes it was Crouch's 100th league goal. He scored again just before half time after good wing play by Matthew Etherington. Rovers pulled a goal back through David Goodwillie with twenty minutes left but Stoke were able to see out the rest of the match with relative ease to claim a 2–1 victory.^[25]

Stoke continued their improved away form by drawing 0–0 at Liverpool. Stoke put in a fine defensive performance and whilst they never threatened to win the match they were equally looked unlikely to lose as Liverpool struggled to break down a hard working Stoke defence.^[26]

Stoke's first home match of 2012 was against West Bromwich Albion at a windy Britannia Stadium and the 'Baggies' took full advantage of the conditions with James Morrison taking long range shots. He hits he crossbar with one before scoring after a huge swerve deceived Sorensen and the ball bounced under his body to give Albion the lead. Stoke struggled to get back into the match but were given a penalty when Gabriel Tamaș fouled Walters, but his penalty was easily saved by Ben Foster. Cameron Jerome came off the bench and scored with a glancing header, but West Brom secured a deserved win in the final minute via a Graham Dorrans free-kick.^[27]

On 31 January Stoke took on Manchester United at Old Trafford and were undone by two penalties either side of half time. Pennant tripping Park Ji-Sung for the first and Walters pulling Antonio Valencia's arm.^[28] After the match Pulis expressed his disappointment at the referee's decisions.^[29]

February

Stoke began a potentially season defining February with a second consecutive home defeat this time to inform Sunderland. The match was played in falling snow which progressively got worse meaning that there was few goalscoring chances for both sides. The match took a huge change just before half time when Huth was sent-off for tackling David Meyler although replays showed that Huth pulled out of the challenge. Sunderland took full advantage of the extra man and scored the only goal through James McClean.^[30] Stoke did attempt to get Huth's red card overturned but failed in their efforts.^[31]

Stoke then recorded their fourth straight Premier League defeat, for the second time this season with a 2–1 defeat at Fulham. Stoke conceded twice in the opening half hour with Fulham's new Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak and an own goal from Sorensen putting Martin Jol's team in a good position. City pulled one back in the second half through Ryan Shawcross but were unable to claim a draw.^[32]

With one win in eight matches and Stoke now out of the Europa League a win against Swansea City was vital. After not really doing much in the match, Matthew Upson broke the deadlock with a header from Matthew Etherington's corner in the 24th minute and then Crouch flicked home his tenth goal of the season when he rose to meet a long throw-in from Ryan Shotton six minutes before the break. Swansea kept the ball well but failed to trouble an under worked Asmir Begovic and Stoke were able to see out a fairly comfortably 2–0 victory.^[33]

March

Stoke faced another newly promoted team in the form of Norwich City at the Britannia Stadium. The match coincided with the 40th anniversary of Stoke's 1972 League Cup win and ironically it was in the 72nd minute that Stoke scored the only goal of the match through Matthew Etherington. Etherington scoring from a tight angle past John Ruddy in what was rare moment of quality in a match with few chances.^[34]

After two home wins Stoke were narrowly beaten 1–0 at Chelsea, Didier Drogba scoring the only goal of the match after 68 minutes. This was after Stoke had played most of the match with 10 men as Ricardo Fuller making his first start of the season was sent off early on after he stamped on Branislav Ivanović.^[35] Pulis described Fuller's actions as 'ridiculous'.^[36]

On 21 March Stoke travelled to a muted White Hart Lane which saw the Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapse on the pitch three days before. Stoke were knocked out of the FA Cup by Liverpool and were now able to concentrate on the Premier League for the rest of the season. After containing Tottenham for most of the match Stoke took the lead through Cameron Jerome on 75 minutes following a goalmouth scramble. However Stoke were denied an impressive win in the final moments as Rafael van der Vaart headed in a Gareth Bale cross.^[37]

Stoke's next home match saw title challengers Manchester City arrived at the Britannia Stadium and saw a contender for goal of the season scored by Peter Crouch. After a goalless first half Stoke opened the scoring in memorable style, A long goal kick from Begović was headed by Crouch on to Pennant who pass back to the forward who the took a touch and fired a volley shot past Joe Hart. Stoke could not hold on however as a long range Yaya Touré strike earned the visitors a share of the points.^[38]

City now in good spirits following Peter Crouch's wonder goal last week went to Wigan for the final match of March. The first half was a very competitive one which produced some hard tackles and few goalscoring chances, However, in second half Wigan were by far the better side and easily won the match 2–0 thanks to goals from Antolín Alcaraz and Victor Moses.^[39]

April

Wolverhampton Wanderers were Stoke's first opponents over the Easter period who arrived in Stoke needing a win to give them any hope of avoiding the drop. And they took the lead in the 27th minute in rather bizarre fashion against the run of play, Michael Kightly embarked upon a run from wide on the right and when he chipped the ball into the onrushing Dave Edwards, but the Welsh international midfielder's attempt to get a touch deceived Asmir Begovic as it bounced past him into the net. The lead lasted just seven minutes however as Huth hit a powerful shot past Wayne Hennessey. Stoke all but ended Wolves' stay in the Premier League as Crouch scored the final goal of the match to secure Stoke a league double over their Midlands rivals.^[40]

48 hours later Stoke again faced struggling Midlands opponents in the form of Aston Villa in what was another poor quality match between the two sides. After very little excitement Andreas Weimann curled in a fine goal to give the hosts the lead. Stoke were trying in vain to draw level so Pulis introduced the rested pair of Crouch and Pennant. And it paid off as a Pennant set piece was headed into the net by Huth to earn City a share of the points.^[41]

After a two-week due to Everton being involved in the FA Cup semi final break Stoke made a long trip north of Newcastle where they came away with a heavy 3–0 loss. Yohan Cabaye proved to be Stoke's chief tormentor as he scored twice and assisted Papiss Cissé.^[42]

Arsenal were Stoke's next opponents at the Britannia Stadium and Peter Crouch scored the opening goal after just 10 minutes but Robin van Persie quickly equalised for the "Gunners". Arsenal controlled that match for the reminder of the first half but both sides had opportunities of grabbing all three points during a frantic second forty five minutes, with Crouch and Jonathan Walters both going closest in stoppage time but the match ended on level terms.^[43]

May

The re-arranged match with Everton produced a dour encounter with few moments of excitement. Everton had the better of an awful first half and they scored on the stroke of half time as Peter Crouch scored an unlucky own goal. The introduction of Ricardo Fuller and Cameron Jerome gave Stoke some life and within seconds of his arrival Jerome used his pace to accelerate through the "Toffees" defence and rescue a point for Stoke.^[44]

The final two matches of the 2011–12 season saw Stoke involved in the fight to avoid relegation with both their opponents Queens Park Rangers and Bolton Wanderers in danger of joining Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Football League. The match against QPR saw Stoke squander an early effort as Cameron Jerome missed an easy chance. With the match seemingly heading for a goalless draw Djibril Cissé score in the final few moments to spark a pitch invasion by jubilant "Rs" fans.^[45]

For the final match of a long and difficult season for Stoke, their opponents Bolton Wanderers arrived in Stoke-on-Trent knowing that they had to win to remain a Premier League club whilst Stoke fans dedicated the match to Ricardo Fuller who is out of contract. Jonathan Walters scored a controversial opening goal for Stoke as he barged into goalkeeper Ádám Bogdán who had both hands on the ball and dropped the ball behind the line. However Wanderers went close with Kevin Davies hitting the crossbar before Bolton had a stroke of luck they needed. Firstly an attempted clearance from Robert Huth cannoned off Mark Davies and then an attempted cross from Kevin Davies deceived Thomas Sørensen to give Bolton a shock 2–1 lead. Unfortunately for "Trotters" fans a second half penalty from Walters condemned them to the Football League Championship.^[46] Stoke ended the season in 14th place with 45 points but a lack of goals and attacking play made it a disappointing and often boring Premier League season for the Stoke supporters.

Results

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
1	14 August 2011	Chelsea	H	0–0	27,421		Report
2	21 August 2011	Norwich City	A	1–1	26,272	Jones 90+4'	Report
3	28 August 2011	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–0	22,909	Shotton 89'	Report
4	10 September 2011	Liverpool	H	1–0	27,592	Walters 21' (pen)	Report
5	18 September 2011	Sunderland	A	0–4	32,296		Report
6	24 September 2011	Manchester United	H	1–1	27,582	Crouch 52'	Report
7	2 October 2011	Swansea City	A	0–2	19,523		Report
8	15 October 2011	Fulham	H	2–0	26,890	Walters 80', Delap 87'	Report
9	23 October 2011	Arsenal	A	1–3	59,671	Crouch 34'	Report
10	31 October 2011	Newcastle United	H	1–3	26,564	Walters 75' (pen)	Report
11	6 November 2011	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–5	20,028		Report
12	19 November 2011	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–3	27,618	Walters 8', Shawcross 64'	Report
13	26 November 2011	Blackburn Rovers	H	3–1	26,686	Delap 28', Whelan 58', Crouch 72'	Report
14	4 December 2011	Everton	A	1–0	33,219	Huth 15'	Report
15	11 December 2011	Tottenham Hotspur	H	2–1	27,529	Etherington (2) 13', 43'	Report
16	17 December 2011	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–1	24,694	Doyle 58' (o.g.), Crouch 70'	Report
17	21 December 2011	Manchester City	A	0–3	46,321		Report
18	26 December 2011	Aston Villa	H	0–0	27,739		Report
19	31 December 2011	Wigan Athletic	H	2–2	26,595	Walters 77' (pen), Jerome 84'	Report
20	2 January 2012	Blackburn Rovers	A	2–1	20,615	Crouch (2) 17', 45'	Report
21	14 January 2012	Liverpool	A	0–0	44,691		Report
22	21 January 2012	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–2	26,865	Jerome 86'	Report
23	31 January 2012	Manchester United	A	0–2	74,719		Report
24	4 February 2012	Sunderland	H	0–1	27,717		Report
25	11 February 2012	Fulham	A	1–2	23,555	Shawcross 78'	Report
26	26 February 2012	Swansea City	H	2–0	26,768	Upson 24', Crouch 39'	Report
27	3 March 2012	Norwich City	H	1–0	27,483	Etherington 72'	Report
28	10 March 2012	Chelsea	A	0–1	40,945		Report
29	21 March 2012	Tottenham Hotspur	A	1–1	35,172	Jerome 75'	Report
30	24 March 2012	Manchester City	H	1–1	27,535	Crouch 59'	Report
31	31 March 2012	Wigan Athletic	A	0–2	19,786		Report
32	7 April 2012	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–1	27,005	Huth 37', Crouch 61'	Report
33	9 April 2012	Aston Villa	A	1–1	30,100	Huth 71'	Report
34	21 April 2012	Newcastle United	A	0–3	52,162		Report
35	28 April 2012	Arsenal	H	1–1	27,502	Crouch 9'	Report
36	1 May 2012	Everton	H	1–1	26,500	Jerome 68'	Report
37	5 May 2012	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–1	17,319		Report
38	13 May 2012	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–2	27,789	Walters (2) 13', 77' (pen)	Report

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Manchester City (C)	38	28	5	5	93	29	+64	89	2012–13 UEFA Champions League Group stage
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	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Group stage ^1
5	Newcastle United	38	19	8	11	56	51	+5	65	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Play-off round
6	Chelsea	38	18	10	10	65	46	+19	64	2012–13 UEFA Champions League Group stage ^1
7	Everton	38	15	11	12	50	40	+10	56
8	Liverpool	38	14	10	14	47	40	+7	52	2012–13 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round ^2
9	Fulham	38	14	10	14	48	51	−3	52
10	West Bromwich Albion	38	13	8	17	45	52	−7	47
11	Swansea City	38	12	11	15	44	51	−7	47
12	Norwich City	38	12	11	15	52	66	−14	47
13	Sunderland	38	11	12	15	45	46	−1	45
14	Stoke City	38	11	12	15	36	53	−17	45
15	Wigan Athletic	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 Wanderers (R)	38	10	6	22	46	77	−31	36	Relegation to Football League Championship
19	Blackburn Rovers (R)	38	8	7	23	48	78	−30	31
20	Wolverhampton Wanderers (R)	38	5	10	23	40	82	−42	25

Source: Barclays Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹Chelsea won the 2011–12 Champions League and thus qualified for the group stage of the 2012–13 competition as defending champions. This meant that Tottenham were to compete in the Europa League in the 2012–13 season, since only four clubs from the Premier League can play in the Champions League.
²Liverpool won the 2011–12 Football League Cup and thus qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

FA Cup

As last season's runners-up Stoke were drawn away against one of manager Tony Pulis old teams Football League Two side Gillingham.^[47]

Stoke survived after an early scare from the 'Gills' who started brightly and took the lead through Danny Kedwell. Stoke made sure that there was no upset and thanks to goals from Jonathan Walters, Cameron Jerome and Robert Huth.^[48]

Over 5,500 Stoke made the short journey across the A50 to see Stoke take on Derby County. Stoke made a perfect start scoring after five minutes through Jerome. Huth hit the post with a header before Derby began to cause City problems with Jamie Ward being a difficult opponent. Stoke controlled the second half and ended the contest with ten minutes left as a Pennant corner fell for Huth to fire a close range shot under the body of Frank Fielding.^[49]

In the fifth round Stoke were handed a tricky tie at League Two high-fliers Crawley Town in what was the first meeting between the clubs. Danny Collins made a surprise start after failing to move away from the club in January and it was Crawley who made the bright start putting City's defence under pressure which led to Peter Crouch heading against his own bar. The match took a turn in the 17th minute when Rory Delap was sent-off for a tackle on David Hunt. This seemed to spring Stoke into life and they were awarded a soft looking penalty just before half-time which Walters put past Rene Gilmartin. Stoke scored a second goal just after the half time break through a Crouch header. The "Red Devils" tried in vain to get back into the tie and Stoke booked their place in the quarter final for the third season in a row.^[50]

Stoke met Liverpool for the fourth time this season and just like in the League Cup it was the Anfield club who narrowly came away with a 2–1 victory. Luis Suárez scored the first goal against the run of play but Peter Crouch quickly equalised. Stewart Downing scored the decisive second goal to send Liverpool through.^[51]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
R3	7 January 2012	Gillingham	A	3–1	9,872	Walters 34', Jerome 43', Huth 49'	Report
R4	28 January 2012	Derby County	A	2–0	22,247	Jerome 5', Huth 81'	Report
R5	19 February 2012	Crawley Town	A	2–0	4,214	Walters 42' (pen), Crouch 52'	Report
Quarter final	18 March 2012	Liverpool	A	1–2	43,962	Crouch 26'	Report

League Cup

Stoke entered the League Cup at the third round stage as they received a bye from the second round due to their involvement in the Europa League. Stoke were drawn at home to Tottenham Hotspur in what was the first meeting between the two clubs in the League Cup. The match was a dull uneventful affair and after 90 minutes plus extra time the tie went to a penalty shootout. After Shotton had made it 7–6 to Stoke, Tottenham's young Australian debutant Massimo Luongo kick was saved by Sørensen to end the contest.^[52]

In the fourth round Stoke faced Liverpool at home and took the lead through Kenwyne Jones just before half time. However two second half goals from Luis Suárez sent the Merseyside club through to the quarter final.^[53]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers	Report
R3	20 September 2011	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0 (7–6 pens)	15,023		Report
R4	26 October 2011	Liverpool	H	1–2	24,939	Jones 44'	Report

UEFA Europa League

By reaching the FA Cup Final last season, Stoke qualified for the UEFA Europa League, after Manchester City confirmed a place in the UEFA Champions League.^[54] Stoke entered at the third qualifying round as cup runners-up where they were drawn against Croatian side Hajduk Split.^[55]

There was great anticipation ahead of Stoke's first European match since 1974 and Stoke made a perfect start, scoring the first goal after just three minutes via Jonathan Walters. However, Stoke were left frustrated in their attempts to extend their lead, meaning that City took a narrow lead to Split for the second leg.^[56]

In Croatia over 28,000 Hajduk fans created a unique atmosphere for the second leg, as Jonathan Woodgate made his debut in place of Andy Wilkinson who missed out due to injury. Stoke were content to allow Hajduk have possession and were able to keep the hosts from troubling Asmir Begović. Stoke sealed their place in the play-off round in the second half injury time when Ryan Shotton bundled the ball past Danijel Subašić.^[57][58] The result also meant that Stoke had won their first ever European round after two previous failed attempts back in the 1970s.

Stoke were drawn against Swiss side FC Thun in the final qualifying round. Thun caused a shock result in the previous round as they defeated the much fancied Italian side Palermo.^[59] The first leg in Thun was played on an artificial pitch much to the annoyance of Tony Pulis. Matthew Upson made his debut for Stoke as Danny Pugh scored the only goal of the match after nineteen minutes. It got worse for Thun as their goalkeeper David Da Costa was sent-off in the final few moments of the match.^[60]

The second leg proved to a very one sided affair with Stoke scoring three times in the opening first 40 minutes through Matthew Upson, Kenwyne Jones and Glenn Whelan. Jones scored a fourth for City in the second half as Stoke claimed an historic group stage place. The Swiss scored a consolation through Andreas Wittwer.^[61]

In the group stage Stoke were drawn against Beşiktaş, Dynamo Kyiv and Maccabi Tel Aviv meaning that Stoke will have to travel a total of 11,000 miles for their away matches.

Stoke's first ever group stage match saw them travel to Ukraine giants Dynamo Kyiv. Pulis made eight changes from the side that beat Liverpool with Cameron Jerome handed his debut. The hosts had famous striker Andriy Shevchenko in their team and it was he who caused City's defence most problems with his movement and skill. After a goalless first half Stoke took the lead with their first shot on target through Jerome. City then had to withstand heavy pressure from Dynamo with Oleksandr Aliyev and Ideye Brown going close to equalising. However Stoke were denied a famous victory right at the end when Ognjen Vukojević tapped in from close range.^[62]

Stoke's first home match in the group stage was against Turkish cup winners Beşiktaş in what was a historic night at the Britannia Stadium. The Black Eagles took the lead through Roberto Hilbert after he was played in by the dangerous Ricardo Quaresma. Stoke however hit back instantly with Peter Crouch scoring his second goal in as many matches. City dominated the second half with Beşiktaş sitting back and trying to mount counterattacks via Quaresma. In the 78th minute Stoke were awarded a penalty when Crouch was fouled by Tomáš Sivok and Jonathan Walters smashed his spot kick past Rüştü Reçber to move Stoke to the top of the group.^[63]

Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived in Stoke-on-Trent bottom of the group and after twelve minutes Jones powered his header past Guy Haimov. Jerome added a second 10 minutes later before setting up Shotton to make it 3–0 to Stoke. Jerome had an eventful first half and after being show a yellow card for dissent he received a second for an apparent elbow on left back Yoav Ziv. In the second half Ziv himself was sent off in bizarre circumstances, after being unhappy with not being awarded a freekick Ziv kicked his displaced boot at the linesman and, after a short consultation between the officials he was sent off.^[64][65]

Stoke next match saw them travel to Tel Aviv for the return fixture against Maccabi. Danny Higginbotham made his first appearance since March after returning from injury. The Potters won the match 2–1 with goals from Dean Whitehead and Peter Crouch whilst Roberto Colautti scored for the home side. The result left Stoke requiring a point to qualify.^[66] Pulis admitted that his side was rarely troubled by a lesser opponent.^[67]

Stoke got the point they needed in the next match against Dynamo Kyiv on 1 December however it looked very unlikely as the Ukrainian giants produced a commanding first half display frustrating Stoke with their slow style and they took the lead when Oleksandr Aliyev's shot deflected in off Matthew Upson. Dynamo almost doubled their lead through Shevchenko but his shot hit the post. Stoke improved in the second half and pulled level ten minutes from full-time via a powerful header from Jones to claim an historic place in the knock-out stage.^[68] Pulis described the achievement as a 'milestone' in the club's history.^[69]

The final match of the group stage saw Stoke take a second string side to the noisy BJK İnönü Stadium. Stoke took the lead via Ricardo Fuller after half an hour however the game changed when Matthew Upson fouled Hugo Almeida to concede a penalty kick was sent off. Manuel Fernandes scored the penalty and Beşiktaş went on to win 3–1 to claim top spot in the group and end Stoke's unbeaten European run.^[70] There were a few incidents in the match were Stoke's players were pelted with objects from the crowd, Pulis said that the club will not complain to UEFA.^[71]

Stoke were handed a glamour tie against Spanish giants Valencia CF in the round of 32, following the draw manager Tony Pulis stated that he is relishing the prospect of taking on one of Europe's top clubs.^[72]

Valencia arrived in Stoke-on-Trent 3rd in La Liga and went into the tie as clear favourites. Stoke almost opened the scoring very early on but Walters dragged his shot wide of Vicente Guaita goal. 'Los Che' slowly started to control the match and took the lead through a fine long range effort from Mehmet Topal. The Spaniards quick movement and skill continued to cause Stoke problems with Brazilian international Jonas proving a difficult opponent. Stoke tried hard to pull level in the second half but it was Valencia who almost scored again as Sofiane Feghouli hit the post.^[73]

For the second leg in Valencia Stoke took a largely reserve side and named just four substitutes which included academy captain Lucas Dawson. This attracted much criticism of Pulis by supporters but he defended his choice.^[74] Around 5,000 City fans were in the Estadio Mestalla to see Stoke take on one of Europe's top clubs. Kenwyne Jones had two brilliant chances early on and Stoke would rue those missed chances as Valencia scored the only goal of the match through Jonas. Stoke lost 2–0 on aggregate and exited the Europa League.^[75]

Third qualifying round

Stoke City v Hajduk Split

28 July 2011 1st leg	Stoke City	1–0	Hajduk Split	Stoke-on-Trent
	Walters  3' Huth  82'	Report		Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 26,322 Referee: Babak Rafati (Germany)

Hajduk Split v Stoke City

4 August 2011 2nd leg	Hajduk Split	0–1	Stoke City	Split, Croatia
	Miličević  29' Andrić  37' Sarić  89'	Report	Begović  61' Whitehead  63' Pennant  81' Etherington  90' Shotton  90+3'	Stadium: Stadion Poljud Attendance: 29,548 Referee: Andrea De Marco (Italy)

Stoke City won 2–0 on aggregate.

Play-off round

Thun v Stoke City

18 August 2011 1st leg	Thun	0–1	Stoke City	Thun, Switzerland
	Bättig  33' Da Costa  90'	Report	Pugh  19' Huth  21' Tonge  31' Etherington  46' Walters  90+5'	Stadium: Arena Thun Attendance: 7,850 Referee: Daniel Stålhammar (Sweden)

Stoke City v Thun

25 August 2011 2nd leg	Stoke City	4–1	Thun	Stoke-on-Trent
	Upson  24' Jones (2)  30', 71' Whelan  37' Whitehead  38'	Report	Lüthi  36' Wittwer  77'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 24,148 Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland)

Stoke City won 5–1 on aggregate.

Group stage

Dynamo Kyiv v Stoke City

15 September 2011 Match 1	Dynamo Kyiv	1–1	Stoke City	Kiev, Ukraine
	Harmash  44' Milevskiy  48' Popov  56' Haruna  65' Vukojević  90'	Report	Diao  15' Shawcross  39' Upson  42' Huth  44' Jerome  55'	Stadium: Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 14,500 Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (Romania)

Stoke City v Beşiktaş

29 September 2011 Match 2	Stoke City	2–1	Beşiktaş	Stoke-on-Trent
	Crouch  15' Upson  42' Walters  78' (pen) Whelan  82'	Report	Hilbert  14' Sivok  78'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 23,551 Referee: Antony Gautier (France)

Stoke City v Maccabi Tel Aviv

20 October 2011 Match 3	Stoke City	3–0	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Stoke-on-Trent
	Jones  12' Jerome  24'  33', 42' Shotton  31' Huth  68'	Report	Ziv  54' Micha  77' Colautti  77'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 22,759 Referee: Anastassios Kakos (Greece)

Maccabi Tel Aviv v Stoke City

3 November 2011 Match 4	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–2	Stoke City	Tel Aviv, Israel
	Cohen  12' Punčec  32' Colautti  90'	Report	Jones  35' Whitehead  51' Crouch  64' Sørensen  90+3'	Stadium: Bloomfield Stadium Attendance: 10,368 Referee: Duarte Gomes (Portugal)

Stoke City v Dynamo Kyiv

1 December 2011 Match 5	Stoke City	1–1	Dynamo Kyiv	Stoke-on-Trent
	Huth  76' Jones  80'	Report	Yarmolenko  7' Upson  27' (o.g.) Khacheridi  84'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 23,774 Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany)

Beşiktaş v Stoke City

14 December 2011 Match 6	Beşiktaş	3–1	Stoke City	Istanbul, Turkey
	Fernandes  58' (pen) Hilbert  61' Pektemek  74' Edu  82'  90+2'	Report	Fuller  26'  29' Begović  43' Upson  57'	Stadium: BJK İnönü Stadium Attendance: 29,000 Referee: Marcin Borski (Poland)

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Beşiktaş	6	4	0	2	13	7	+6	12
Stoke City	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11
Dynamo Kyiv	6	1	4	1	7	7	0	7
Maccabi Tel Aviv	6	0	2	4	8	17	−9	2

Round of 32

Stoke City v Valencia

16 February 2012 1st leg	Stoke City	0–1	Valencia	Stoke-on-Trent
	Shawcross  54' Etherington  83' Walters  84' Whitehead  85' Wilkinson  90+3'	Report	Topal  36' Rami  73' Costa  85'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium Attendance: 24,185 Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark)

Valencia v Stoke City

23 February 2012 2nd leg	Valencia	1–0	Stoke City	Valencia, Spain
	Jonas  24' Dealbert  77' Soldado  89'	Report	Diao  30' Huth  68' Pennant  73' Jones  77' Shotton  81'	Stadium: Estadio Mestalla Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Markus Strömbergsson (Sweden)

Stoke City lost 2–0 on aggregate.

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		UEFA Europa League		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Asmir Begović	22(1)	0	3	0	0	0	5	0	30(1)	0	2	0
3	DF	Danny Higginbotham	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	4(1)	0	0	0
4	DF	Robert Huth	31(3)	3	3	2	2	0	10	0	46(3)	5	15	1
5	DF	Danny Collins	0	0	1	0	0	0	1(1)	0	2(1)	0	0	0
6	MF	Glenn Whelan	27(3)	1	3(1)	0	2	0	4(3)	1	37(6)	2	7	0
8	MF	Tom Soares	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	0	0
9	FW	Kenwyne Jones	10(11)	1	1(1)	0	2	1	10	4	23(12)	6	2	0
10	FW	Ricardo Fuller	3(10)	0	0(2)	0	0	0	2(1)	1	5(13)	1	3	1
11	FW	Mamady Sidibé	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	DF	Marc Wilson	35	0	2	0	2	0	6	0	45	0	9	0
14	MF	Danny Pugh	0(3)	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	1	2(4)	1	0	0
15	MF	Salif Diao	2(4)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	6(1)	0	8(6)	0	3	0
16	MF	Jermaine Pennant	18(9)	0	0(2)	0	1(1)	0	5(4)	0	23(16)	0	4	0
17	DF	Ryan Shawcross (c)	36	2	4	0	1	0	8	0	49	2	12	0
18	MF	Dean Whitehead	24(9)	0	3(1)	0	0	0	6(4)	1	33(14)	1	9	0
19	FW	Jonathan Walters	38	7	4	2	1(1)	0	6(4)	2	49(5)	11	5	0
20	DF	Matthew Upson	10(4)	1	2	0	1	0	8	1	21(4)	2	3	1
21	DF	Andrew Davies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	Michael Tonge	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
24	MF	Rory Delap	18(8)	2	2(1)	0	1	0	6	0	27(9)	2	5	1
25	FW	Peter Crouch	31(1)	10	3	2	0(2)	0	2(1)	2	36(4)	14	2	0
26	MF	Matthew Etherington	30	3	2	0	2	0	6	0	40	3	4	0
27	GK	Carlo Nash	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	DF	Andy Wilkinson	20(4)	0	2(1)	0	0	0	6(2)	0	28(7)	0	8	0
29	GK	Thomas Sørensen	16	0	1	0	2	0	7	0	26	0	2	0
30	DF	Ryan Shotton	14(9)	1	3	0	2	0	5(5)	2	24(14)	3	3	0
32	MF	Diego Arismendi	0	0	0	0	0	0	2(2)	0	2(2)	0	1	0
33	FW	Cameron Jerome	7(16)	4	3(1)	2	1(1)	0	6(1)	2	17(19)	8	1	1
35	FW	Ben Marshall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	MF	Matthew Lund	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	MF	Florent Cuvelier	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	DF	Jonathan Woodgate	16(1)	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	20(1)	0	3	0
40	MF	Wilson Palacios	9(9)	0	1	0	1	0	7(1)	0	18(10)	0	2	0
41	MF	Michael Clarkson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	FW	Louis Moult	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
44	MF	Lucas Dawson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
–	–	Own goals	–	1	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	1	–	–

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
11 July 2011	DF	Jonathan Woodgate	Tottenham Hotspur	Free[76]
9 August 2011	DF	Matthew Upson	West Ham United	Free[77]
31 August 2011	MF	Wilson Palacios	Tottenham Hotspur	Undisclosed[78]
31 August 2011	MF	Cameron Jerome	Birmingham City	Undisclosed[79][80]
31 August 2011	FW	Peter Crouch	Tottenham Hotspur	£10 Million[81]

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
27 May 2011	DF	Abdoulaye Faye	West Ham United	Free[82][83]
27 August 2011	DF	Ibrahima Sonko	Ipswich Town	Free[84]
31 May 2011	FW	Eidur Gudjohnsen	AEK Athens	Free[84]
29 July 2011	DF	Carl Dickinson	Watford	Undisclosed[85]
2 January 2012	MF	Danny Pugh	Leeds United	Undisclosed[86]
31 January 2012	MF	Ben Marshall	Leicester City	Undisclosed[87]

Loan out

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	To
26 July 2011	21 November 2011	MF	Matthew Lund	Oldham Athletic[88]
3 August 2011	3 September 2011	DF	Andrew Davies	Crystal Palace[89]
17 August 2011	1 January 2012	FW	Ben Marshall	Sheffield Wednesday[90]
19 August 2011	19 September 2011	FW	Louis Moult	Accrington Stanley[91]
9 August 2011	11 December 2011	DF	Danny Collins	Ipswich Town[92]
22 September 2011	1 January 2012	DF	Danny Pugh	Leeds United[93]
23 September 2011	30 June 2012	DF	Andrew Davies	Bradford City[94]
23 January 2012	30 June 2012	MF	Tom Soares	Hibernian[95]
24 January 2012	30 June 2012	MF	Michael Tonge	Barnsley[96]
27 January 2012	27 February 2012	FW	Ryan Brunt	Tranmere Rovers[97][98]
27 January 2012	27 February 2012	MF	Florent Cuvelier	Walsall[99]
30 January 2012	30 February 2012	MF	Matthew Lund	Bristol Rovers[100][101]
31 January 2012	30 June 2012	DF	Danny Higginbotham	Nottingham Forest[102][103][104]
9 March 2012	30 June 2012	DF	Danny Collins	West Ham United[105][106]
16 March 2012	30 June 2012	MF	Diego Arismendi	Huddersfield Town[107]

Reserves

After withdrawing from competitive reserve team matches from the 2010–11 season, Stoke was to join the Central League for the 2011–12 season.^[108]

Friendlies

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
13 July 2011	Bristol Rovers	A	0–0		Report
16 July 2011	Tiverton Town	A	2–1	Dawson, Smith	Report
23 July 2011	Chasetown	A	0–2		Report
30 July 2011	Nantwich Town	A	0–3
2 August 2011	Witton Albion	A	1–7	Rossi	Report
6 August 2011	Kidsgrove Athletic	A	2–1	Clarkson, Suljević

Central League

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
1	24 August 2011	Walsall	A	1–2	Rossi	Report
2	28 September 2011	Nottingham Forest	A	2–1	Moult, Tonge	Report
3	10 October 2011	Sheffield United	H	1–0	Higginbotham	Report
4	7 December 2011	Burton Albion	A	0–0		Report
5	17 January 2012	Walsall	H	7–0	Jones, Marshall (2), Jerome (2), Soares (2)	Report
6	21 February 2012	Sheffield United	A	1–6	Nardiello (pen)	Report
7	29 February 2012	Port Vale	A	1–2	Nardiello	Report
8	7 March 2012	Derby County	A	0–0		Report
9	10 April 2012	Burton Albion	H	0–6		Report
10	19 April 2012	Port Vale	H	1–1	Thomas	Report
11	25 April 2012	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	Thomas	Report
12	2 May 2012	Derby County	H	0–3		Report

Table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Sheffield United	12	6	4	2	25	9	+16	22
2	Derby County	12	6	3	3	26	16	+10	21
3	Nottingham Forest	12	5	3	4	24	20	+4	18
4	Port Vale	12	4	3	5	12	21	–9	15
5	Walsall	12	4	3	5	17	27	–10	15
6	Burton Albion	12	4	1	7	24	27	–3	13
7	Stoke City	12	3	3	6	15	23	–8	12

Central League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
Group match 1	6 September 2011	Chesterfield	H	0–0		Report
Group match 2	26 October 2011	Port Vale	A	6–2	Soares (2), Tonge, Sidibé, Moult (2)	Report
Group match 3	9 November 2011	Rotherham United	H	4–1	Arismendi, Lund, Brunt, (o.g.)	Report
Group match 4	1 February 2012	Derby County	A	1–1	Nardiello	Report
Semi final	17 April 2012	Manchester City	H	1–4	Rossi	Report

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Central League		League Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
MF	Tunji Agbaje	3(5)	0	0(2)	0	3(7)	0
MF	Amenku	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Diego Arismendi	3	0	2	1	5	1
GK	Daniel Bachmann	2	0	1	0	3	0
FW	Enoch Balotelli	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Marcel Barrington	1(2)	0	0	0	1(2)	0
FW	Ryan Brunt	0(1)	0	0(2)	1	0(3)	1
MF	Michael Clarkson	4	0	2(1)	0	6(1)	0
MF	Paul Clowes	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Luke Coulson	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Florent Cuvelier	5	0	1	0	6	0
DF	Andrew Davies	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Lucas Dawson	6(1)	0	3	0	9(1)	0
DF	Day	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Salif Diao	1	0	0	0	1	0
GK	Dale Eve	3	0	2	0	5	0
GK	James Fitzgibbon	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Andy Hall	6	0	5	0	11	0
MF	Jaden Hall	4	0	0	0	4	0
DF	Ben Heneghan	1	0	0(1)	0	1(1)	0
DF	Danny Higginbotham	3	1	2	0	5	1
DF	Higgins	1	0	0	0	1	0
GK	Liam Jacob	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Cameron Jerome	1	2	0	0	1	2
FW	Kenwyne Jones	1	1	0	0	1	1
MF	Matthew Lund	2	0	2	1	4	1
MF	Ben Marshall	1	2	0	0	1	2
FW	Louis Moult	5	1	2	2	7	3
MF	Andy Musungu	6(1)	0	2(1)	0	8(2)	0
DF	Themba Muata-Marlow	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Jack Nardiello	4	2	1	1	5	3
GK	Carlo Nash	2	0	2	0	4	0
DF	Ryan O'Reilly	6(3)	0	2	0	8(3)	0
DF	Immanuel Parry	8	0	5	0	12	0
MF	Wilson Palacios	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Jordan Richardson	2(2)	0	1(2)	0	3(4)	0
DF	George Rigg	1	0	1	0	2	0
GK	Connor Roberts	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Connor Roberts-Nurse	5(2)	0	2	0	7(2)	0
FW	Karim Rossi	3	1	3(1)	1	6(1)	2
MF	Kris Scott	3(2)	0	0	0	3(2)	0
FW	Mamady Sidibé	1	0	1	1	2	1
MF	Tom Soares	3	2	3	2	6	4
MF	Smajl Suljević	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Adam Thomas	2	2	1	0	3	2
FW	Dan Thompson	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Michael Tonge	3	1	2	1	5	2

Academy

Academy squad

2011–12 Academy squad.^[109]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Daniel Bachmann GK Dale Eve DF Jordan Galloway DF Andrew Hall DF Connor Roberts-Nurse DF Craig Sinclair DF Immanuel Parry DF Joseph Debayo DF Ryan O'Reilly DF Tom King MF Allen Bossman MF Michael Clarkson

No. Position Player MF Lucas Dawson MF Kris Scott MF Unpha Koroma MF Jordan Richardson MF Andrew Musungu MF Smajl Suljević FW Tunji Agbaje FW Ryan Brunt FW Sam Whitehurst FW Karim Rossi FW Marcel Barrington FW Jack Nardiello

Premier Academy League

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
1	20 August 2011	Bristol City	H	1–1	Richardson	Report
2	27 August 2011	Charlton Athletic	A	1–0	Dawson	Report
3	3 September 2011	Middlesbrough	H	2–2	Richardson, Musungu	Report
4	10 September 2011	Sunderland	A	2–1	Richardson, Suljević	Report
5	17 September 2011	Derby County	H	1–0	Richardson	Report
6	24 September 2011	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–1		Report
7	2 October 2011	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–1	Musungu, Brunt	Report
8	8 October 2011	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–1	Suljević, Rossi	Report
9	15 October 2011	Blackburn Rovers	H	4–4	Brunt, Richardson (3)	Report
10	29 October 2011	Manchester City	A	0–2		Report
11	5 November 2011	Everton	H	1–2	Clarkson	Report
12	19 November 2011	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2		Report
13	3 December 2011	Liverpool	A	0–0		Report
14	10 December 2011	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1		Report
15	7 January 2012	Everton	A	2–2	Richardson, Brunt	Report
16	21 January 2012	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	Richardson	Report
17	28 January 2012	Liverpool	H	1–3	Nardiello	Report
18	18 February 2012	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–2	Musungu, Agbaje	Report
19	25 March 2012	Bolton Wanderers	A	3–1	Nardiello (3)	Report
20	3 March 2012	Sheffield United	A	3–3	Scott, Parry, Musungu	Report
21	10 March 2012	Barnsley	H	1–0	Nardiello	Report
22	17 March 2012	Newcastle United	A	1–3	Richardson	Report
23	20 March 2012	Manchester United	H	3–2	Rossi (2), Scott	Report
24	24 March 2012	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–0	Rossi
25	31 March 2012	Nottingham Forest	A	3–0	Rossi (2), Nardiello	Report
26	28 April 2012	Manchester City	H	4–1	Barrington, Richardson, Scott, Own goal	Report
27	5 May 2012	West Bromwich Albion	A	3–2	Richardson, Thomas, Roberts-Nurse
28	8 May 2012	Manchester United	A	1–2	Rossi	Report

FA Youth Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
R3	13 December 2011	Preston North End	A	2–1	Agbaje, Hall	Report
R4	12 January 2012	Brentford	H	2–1	Dawson, Richardson	Report
R5	6 February 2012	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–4		Report

Staffordshire Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
Quarter final	14 February 2012	Hednesford Town	A	2–1	Dawson (pen), Barrington	Report
Semi final	27 March 2012	Kidsgrove Athletic	A	0–4		Report

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