2011–12 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City

2011–12 season
Chairman	Vichai Raksriaksorn
Manager	Sven-Göran Eriksson Until 24 October 2011 Jon Rudkin and Mike Stowell (caretakers) Nigel Pearson From 15 November 2011
Football League Championship	9th
FA Cup	Sixth Round
League Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: David Nugent (15) All: David Nugent (16)
Highest home attendance	27,720 (vs. Leeds United, Championship, 6 November 2011)
Lowest home attendance	16,210 (vs. Nottingham Forest, FA Cup, 17 January 2012)
Average home league attendance	23,036
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

The 2011–12 Leicester City F.C. season was the club's 107th season in the English football league system and their 60th (non-consecutive) season in the second tier of English football. This was their third consecutive season in the Football League Championship.

The summer saw Leicester spend big in an attempt to gain promotion back to the Premier League, but an inconsistent start saw manager Sven-Göran Eriksson sacked after a 3–0 defeat at home to struggling Millwall saw Leicester sitting in 13th position after 13 games.

After days of negotiations, Nigel Pearson was finally re-appointed as manager on 15 November 2011, starting his second spell at the club after leaving for Hull City 17 months earlier.^[1] However, the club continued their inconsistent form under Pearson and sat mid-table for virtually the entire season before eventually finishing in 9th place.

Pre-season[edit]

Pre-season events[edit]

Note: This section does not include close season transfers or pre-season match results, which are listed in their own sections below.

• 18 May 2011 – Asia Football Investments led by Vichai and Aiyawatt Raksriaksorn acquire a 100% stake in the club's ownership.^[2]
• 7 June 2011 – Susan Whelan named as club chief executive. Simon Capper named as new finance director and Andrew Neville named as football director.^[3]
• 5 July 2011 – Leicester's home ground The Walkers' Stadium is renamed The King Power Stadium due to a change in sponsorship.^[4]
• 5 July 2011 – First team coach Dietmar Hamann leaves the club to become manager of Stockport County.^[5]
• 5 August 2011 – Aleksandar Tunchev signs a one-year contract extension which ends in 2012.^[6]

Kit and sponsorship[edit]

On 6 May 2011 a preview of the 2011–12 home kit was released on the official Leicester City website. It was announced that the kit would be worn against Ipswich Town in the last game of the 2010–11 season.^[7] On 7 May 2011 the home kit was revealed to have a collar for the first time since the 2001–2002 season with white shorts and blue socks with a white trim.^[8]

Friendlies[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

Events[edit]

Note:This section does not include transfers or match results, which are listed in their own sections below.

• 21 September 2011 – Sol Bamba signs a new contract until 2014.^[11]
• 7 October 2011 – Tom Hopper signs a professional contract until 2013.^[12]
• 24 October 2011 – Sven-Göran Eriksson and Derek Fazackerley left their posts as Manager and Assistant Manager by mutual agreement.^[13]
• 24 October 2011 – Mike Stowell and Jon Rudkin are placed in temporary charge of first team affairs as joint caretaker managers.^[14]
• 15 November 2011 – Nigel Pearson is re-appointed manager, 17 months after leaving the club. Craig Shakespeare and Steve Walsh are also re-appointed as his assistants.^[1]
• 10 January 2012 – Cian Bolger signs new deal until June 2013.^[15]
• 12 January 2012 – Chris Short leaves his post as fitness coach.^[16]
• 19 January 2012 – Liam Moore signs a contract extension which ends in 2013.^[17]
• 19 January 2012 – Shane Byrne signs a contract extension which ends in 2013.^[17]
• 25 February 2012 – Matt Mills is stripped of the captaincy.^[18]
• 29 February 2012 – Jeffrey Schlupp signs a new contract until 2015.^[19]
• 1 March 2012 – Bruno Berner announces his retirement from professional football.^[20]

Players and staff[edit]

2011–12 squad[edit]

• This section lists players who were in Leicester's first team squad at any point during the 2011–12 season
• Asterisks indicates player left mid-season
• Hash symbol indicates player retired mid-season
• Italics indicate loan player

No.	Nationality	Name	Position	Joined	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1		Kasper Schmeichel	GK	2011	Leeds United
21		Chris Weale	GK	2009	Bristol City
25		Conrad Logan	GK	2004	Youth
31		Adam Smith	GK	2010	Middlesbrough
		Patrick Lane*	GK	2011	Unattached
Defenders
2		Lee Peltier	RB / RW / CB / DM	2011	Huddersfield Town
3		Paul Konchesky	LB	2011	Liverpool
4		John Paintsil	RB	2011	Unattached
5		Matt Mills	CB	2011	Reading
6		Sol Bamba	CB	2011	Hibernian
12		Sean St Ledger	CB	2011	Preston North End
15		Bruno Berner#	LB / CB / DM	2008	Blackburn Rovers
16		Michael Ball*	LB	2011	Unattached
26		Wes Morgan	CB	2012	Nottingham Forest
30		Tom Kennedy	LB	2010	Rochdale
32		Tom Parkes	CB	2009	Youth
33		Aleksander Tunchev	CB / LB	2008	CSKA Sofia
34		Liam Moore	CB / RB	2011	Youth
36		George Taft	CB	2011	Youth
		Cian Bolger	CB	2009	Youth
Midfielders
8		Matt Oakley	CM	2008	Derby County
10		Andy King	CM / DM / AM	2006	Youth
11		Lloyd Dyer	LW / RW	2008	Milton Keynes Dons
16		Danny Drinkwater	CM	2012	Manchester United
17		Michael Johnson*	CM	Loan	Manchester City
18		Franck Moussa	CM / RW / LW	2010	Southend United
19		Richie Wellens	CM	2009	Doncaster Rovers
22		Yuki Abe*	DM / RB	2010	Urawa Red Diamonds
22		Ben Marshall	RW / LW / AM	2012	Stoke City
23		Neil Danns	CM / RW	2011	Crystal Palace
26		Gélson Fernandes*	DM	Loan	Saint-Étienne
		Jason Banton*	LW	2011	Unattached
		Shane Byrne	CM	2011	Youth
		Moreno*	DM / CB	2010	Vitória de Guimarães
		Dany N'Guessan*	LW	2009	Lincoln City
		Oliver Norburn	CM	2011	Youth
Forwards
7		Paul Gallagher	AM / RW / CF	2009	Blackburn Rovers
9		Steve Howard	CF	2008	Derby County
13		Darius Vassell	CF / RW	2010	Unattached
14		Martyn Waghorn	CF / RW	2010	Sunderland
15		Harry Panayiotou	CF / AM	2012	Youth
20		Jermaine Beckford	CF	2011	Everton
24		Nathan Delfouneso*	CF / RW	Loan	Aston Villa
27		Jeffrey Schlupp	CF / RW	2010	Youth
35		David Nugent	CF / RW	2011	Unattached
37		Tom Hopper	CF	2011	Youth
		Elliott Chamberlain	CF	2010	Youth
		Leon Crnčič*	CF	2010	Atalanta
		Yann Kermorgant*	CF	2009	Stade Reims

2011–12 backroom staff[edit]

• This section lists members of staff who were in Leicester's first team squad at any point during the 2011–12 season
• Asterisks indicate member of staff left mid-season

Position	Nationality	Name
Manager (Until 24 October 2011)		Sven-Göran Eriksson*
Manager (From 15 November 2011)		Nigel Pearson
Assistant manager (Until 24 October 2011)		Derek Fazackerley*
Assistant manager (From 15 November 2011)		Craig Shakespeare
Assistant manager/Head of Recruitment (From 15 November 2011)		Steve Walsh
First Team Coach/Goalkeeping Coach		Mike Stowell
Fitness Coach (Until 12 January 2012)		Chris Short
Head physio		David Rennie
Academy manager		Jon Rudkin
Academy coach (Under 18s)		Steve Beaglehole
Academy coach (Under 16s)		Trevor Peake

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee
21 June 2011	RB		Lee Peltier	Huddersfield Town	Undisclosed[21]
27 June 2011	GK		Kasper Schmeichel	Leeds United	Undisclosed[22]
1 July 2011	CM		Neil Danns	Crystal Palace	Free[23]
4 July 2011	CB		Sean St Ledger	Preston North End	Undisclosed[24]
5 July 2011	CF		David Nugent	Free agent	Free[25]
7 July 2011	CB		Matt Mills	Reading	Undisclosed[26]
12 July 2011	LW		Jason Banton	Free agent	Free[27]
13 July 2011	LB		Paul Konchesky	Liverpool	Undisclosed[28]
21 July 2011	RB		John Paintsil	Free agent	Free[29]
6 August 2011	LB		Michael Ball	Free agent	Free[30]
29 August 2011	DM		Callum Webb	Free agent	Free[31]
29 August 2011	CB		Steven Smith	Free agent	Free[31]
31 August 2011	CF		Jermaine Beckford	Everton	Undisclosed[32]
27 October 2011	GK		Patrick Lane	Free agent	Free[33]
20 January 2012	CM		Danny Drinkwater	Manchester United	£1,000,000[34]
30 January 2012	CB		Wes Morgan	Nottingham Forest	£1,000,000[35][36]
31 January 2012	RW		Ben Marshall	Stoke City	£750,000–£1,000,000[36][37]

Out[edit]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
13 June 2011	RB		Michael Lamey	Wisła Kraków	Free[38]
30 June 2011	CB		Jack Hobbs	Hull City	Undisclosed[39]
31 August 2011	LW		Dany N'Guessan	Millwall	Undisclosed[40]
27 February 2012	GK		Patrick Lane	Karlstad BK	Free[41]

Loans in[edit]

Date from	Date to	Position	Nationality	Name	From
28 July 2011	End of Season	CM		Michael Johnson	Manchester City[42]
4 August 2011	4 January 2012	CM		Gélson Fernandes	Saint-Étienne[43][44]
23 January 2012	February 2012	CF		Nathan Delfouneso	Aston Villa[45]

Loans out[edit]

Date from	Date to	Position	Nationality	Name	To
11 July 2011	January 2012	CB		Cian Bolger	Bristol Rovers[46]
12 July 2011	January 2012	GK		Conrad Logan	Rotherham United[47]
28 July 2011	January 2012	CB		Tom Parkes	Burton Albion[48]
5 August 2011	December 2011	CB		Liam Moore	Bradford City[49][50]
5 August 2011	September 2011	CB		Aleksandar Tunchev	Crystal Palace[6]
8 August 2011	January 2012	LW		Dany N'Guessan	Millwall[51]
16 August 2011	September 2011	CF		Elliott Chamberlain	Stockport County[52]
23 August 2011	October 2011	CB		George Taft	Kettering Town[53][54]
31 August 2011	January 2011	CM		Shane Byrne	Bury[55]
31 August 2011	January 2012	CF		Martyn Waghorn	Hull City[56]
16 September 2011	October 2011	GK		Adam Smith	Chesterfield[57]
23 September 2011	January 2012	CM		Oliver Norburn	Bristol Rovers[58][59]
30 September 2011	October 2011	CM		Matt Oakley	Exeter City[60]
30 September 2011	October 2011	LB		Tom Kennedy	Peterborough United[60]
30 September 2011	October 2011	CF		Jason Banton	Burton Albion[60]
25 November 2011	January 2012	CF		Elliott Chamberlain	Telford United[61]
6 January 2012	19 January 2012	GK		Adam Smith	Lincoln City[62][63]
20 January 2012	February 2012	GK		Chris Weale	Northampton Town[64]
9 February 2012	March 2012	CB		Tom Parkes	Bristol Rovers[65]
10 February 2012	22 February 2012	GK		Patrick Lane	Hinckley United[66]
25 March 2012	July 2012	CB		George Taft	Karlstad BK[67]

Released[edit]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name
30 June 2011	CM		Aman Verma[68]
30 June 2011	GK		Robert Ambrusics[68]
30 June 2011	CF		Ashley Chambers[68]
30 June 2011	CM		Nathan Hicks[68]
30 June 2011	RW		Jorrin John[68]
30 June 2011	CF		Craig King[68]
30 June 2011	CM		Ben Milnes[68]
30 June 2011	RB		Luke O'Neill[68]
30 June 2011	CF		Adi Yussuf[68]
30 June 2011	GK		Ricardo[68]
18 July 2011	RB		Robbie Neilson[69]
30 August 2011	CF		Leon Črnčič[70]
5 September 2011	CF		Yann Kermorgant[71]
22 December 2011	LW		Jason Banton[72]
13 January 2012	DM		Moreno[73]
23 January 2012	DM		Yuki Abe[74]
23 January 2012	LB		Michael Ball[75]

Results[edit]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Upcoming fixture

Football League Championship[edit]

FA Cup[edit]

Football League Cup[edit]

Awards[edit]

Club awards[edit]

At the end of the season, Leicester's annual award ceremony, including categories voted for by the players and backroom staff, the supporters and the supporters club, saw the following players recognised for their achievements for the club throughout the 2011–12 season.^[76]

Player of the Season Award	Kasper Schmeichel
Young Player of the Season Award	Ben Marshall
Players' Player of the Season Award	Kasper Schmeichel
Supporters' Club Player of the Season Award	Kasper Schmeichel[77]
Academy Player of the Season Award