2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Blackpool, who had been considered candidates for relegation at the start of the season by some critics, finished the campaign in sixth position to claim the final play-off place. They secured the spot with a 1–1 draw against Bristol City in their final league match. With a total of 70 points, they finished a single point ahead of Swansea City who were held to a 0–0 draw with Doncaster Rovers in their final match. Blackpool's opponents for the play-off semi-finals were third-placed Nottingham Forest, against whom the won the first leg 2–1 at Bloomfield Road. Having conceded a 13th-minute goal from Chris Cohen, Blackpool came from behind to win following a goal from Keith Southern and a penalty from Charlie Adam.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
In the second leg, Blackpool twice fell behind, equalising first through DJ Campbell, after an early first-half goal from Robert Earnshaw, and again from Stephen Dobbie after Earnshaw's second goal of the match. They took the lead with two quick goals from Campbell who completed his hat-trick in the space of three minutes, scoring in the 76th and 79th minutes, as Blackpool took a 6–3 aggregate lead. Forest striker Dele Adebola scored a late consolation goal in injury time but Blackpool advanced to the play-off final as the match finished 4–3, with an aggregate score of 6–4.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Cardiff City finished fourth in the Championship, three points behind Nottingham Forest and level on points with Leicester City in fifth, to reach the Championship play-offs for the first time. The first leg at the Walkers Stadium was decided by a single goal from Cardiff's Peter Whittingham, who scored from a free kick in the 78th minute. Despite intense pressure in the final 10 minutes, Cardiff held out to claim victory.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
In the second leg, Michael Chopra opened the scoring to double Cardiff's aggregate lead, but an equaliser on the day from Matty Fryatt and an own goal from Cardiff captain Mark Hudson made it level on aggregate at 2–2. Andy King then gave Leicester the lead on aggregate with a goal just after half-time. With just over 20 minutes to play, Cardiff were awarded a penalty, which Whittingham scored to level the aggregate score again at 3–3. With the away goals rule not in effect in the Football League play-offs, the match went to extra time.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
No further goals were scored in the additional 30 minutes, so the match had to be settled by a penalty shoot-out. Both sides scored each of their first three kicks, before David Marshall saved a Panenka attempt from Leicester's Yann Kermorgant, allowing Mark Kennedy to give Cardiff the lead. Marshall then saved Martyn Waghorn's spot-kick to put Cardiff through to the final.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Ian Holloway had been appointed manager of Blackpool at the end of the 2008–09 season on a one-year contract, following a year without a role in football. During the summer transfer window, he made numerous signings, the most prominent of which was the permanent signing of Charlie Adam for around £500,000. Adam had impressed during a loan the spell the previous year and continued his form by finishing the 2009–10 campaign as the club's highest goalscorer with 16 league goals.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Blackpool president Valērijs Belokoņs had promised the club's players a £5 million reward fund at the start of the 2009–10 season if they achieved promotion to the Premier League, to be shared among the players dependent on appearances made over the course of the season. Club captain Ian Evatt stated that the potential bonus had spurred the team on during the season, commenting that "if anyone deserves it, it is this group of players".


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Cardiff had narrowly failed to gain a play-off place the previous year, losing the final place to Preston North End on the last day of the season after failing to win any of their last four matches. Defender Roger Johnson was sold to Birmingham City for £5 million, but the money was reinvested into the side with the arrivals of Chopra, Hudson, Marshall, Anthony Gerrard and Paul Quinn. The signing of Chopra for a reported £4 million more than doubled the club's previous transfer record, surpassing the £1.75 m paid for Peter Thorne in 2001. Chopra proved prolific during the campaign, scoring 21 times in all competitions. He was the club's second highest goalscorer for the season behind Whittingham who scored 25 times.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
The two teams were competing for promotion to the Premier League, the first tier of the English football league system. The play-off final was held at Wembley Stadium in London. Blackpool had played once before at the redeveloped Wembley, defeating Yeovil Town 2–0 in the 2007 Football League One play-off Final. Cardiff had played at the redeveloped stadium on two occasions in 2008, in the semi-final and final of the 2007–08 FA Cup.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Neither side had played in the Premier League since the league's decision to break away from the Football League in 1992 and Cardiff would have become the first non-English team to play in the league had they won. Holloway had previously met Cardiff in the 2003 Football League Second Division play-off Final seven years previously, when his Queens Park Rangers side lost in extra time.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
The Championship play-off finals are considered one of the most financially lucrative matches in football. The winners of the 2010 final were believed to receive around £90 million for winning the match and the subsequent promotion to the Premier League due to increased commercial and broadcasting income. The Football League announced that the English national anthem "God Save the Queen", traditionally played before play-off finals would not be included. This decision would later become Football League policy in subsequent matches at Wembley between Welsh and English clubs. It originated from events at the 2008 FA Cup Final between Portsmouth and Cardiff, in which both "God Save the Queen" and the Welsh anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" were played and both sets of supporters jeered the opposing anthems.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Pre-match
Holloway made no changes to Blackpool's matchday squad, naming the same starting line-up and substitutes used in their play-off semi-final second leg. Jones also made no changes to the side that had started the second leg of the club's play-off semi-final against Leicester City, striker Jay Bothroyd overcoming doubts over a grade two hamstring strain injury to be named in the starting line-up. The only change to Cardiff's matchday squad was Gerrard being selected on the bench in place of Gábor Gyepes.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Pre-match
Cardiff kept their team hotel location secret in order to avoid any attempts of a retaliation attempt by fans of Queens Park Rangers. This followed an incident prior to the 2003 play-off final when the two sides met in which a Cardiff fan was arrested after triggering a false fire alarm call at the Rangers' team hotel during the night prior to the match. Rangers' internet message boards had seen fans threaten a possible "revenge attack". Cardiff manager Dave Jones stated that the club had taken extra precautions, but that "they will probably find out where we are staying. If it goes off, it goes off; but I think there is enough security there." The Cardiff squad would receive a £1.6 million bonus to be shared among the players if they achieved promotion.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Pre-match
The referee for the match was  Andre Marriner (Birmingham). He was assisted by Dave Bryan (Lincolnshire) and Adam Watts (Worcestershire), with Mike Jones (Cheshire) acting as the fourth official.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
Cardiff kicked off the match around 3 p.m. in front of a Wembley Stadium crowd of 82,244. They began as the more attacking of the teams, with Peter Whittingham playing a cross into the box where Chopra was able to beat opposition defender Alex Baptiste to the ball, hitting the crossbar with his resulting shot four minutes into the match. Five minutes later, Whittingham again played in Chopra, allowing the striker to score past Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks into the bottom corner of the net.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
Four minutes later Cardiff conceded a free kick on the edge of their penalty area when Stephen McPhail was adjudged by Marriner to have deliberately handled the ball. Adam hit the free kick around the wall and into the net to equalise. After fifteen minutes Cardiff's Bothroyd succumbed to his pre-existing hamstring injury and was substituted, being replaced by loan player Kelvin Etuhu. Blackpool were able to gain control of the game as Cardiff adjusted to the change, with both Stephen Crainey and DJ Campbell shooting wide from outside the penalty area.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
As Cardiff regrouped, they created several opportunities towards the end of the first half. They retook the lead after 36 minutes when Whittingham recorded his second assist of the match by playing a pass to Joe Ledley who beat the advancing Gilks to give Cardiff a 2–1 lead. Blackpool equalised again four minutes later: a Blackpool corner was fumbled by Cardiff goalkeeper Marshall and fell to Evatt whose shot was blocked on the goal line by Kennedy.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
The ball fell to Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who had hit the post with a shot minutes earlier, and he was able to turn the ball into the net. Blackpool continued to press and they took the lead in first-half injury time when Campbell was tackled by a Cardiff defender only for the ball to deflect to Brett Ormerod who gave Blackpool a 3–2 lead. Ormerod later described the chance, stating "Marshall jumped at me and made himself big so all I could do was to bung the ball straight through his legs". Shortly before the end of the first half, Cardiff defender Darcy Blake managed to score but the goal was ruled out for offside. The half ended with no further score;  it was a record for the most goals scored in the first half of a Championship play-off final.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
Despite taking the lead, Blackpool continued to attack after half-time, with Taylor-Fletcher creating chances for the side early in the second half. Holloway substituted two of his side's goalscorers within the first fifteen minutes of the half, replacing Taylor-Fletcher and Ormerod with Stephen Dobbie and Ben Burgess. Chopra struck the post for the second time in the match soon after, when Chris Burke had played a pass to the striker, and Ledley and Etuhu both had attempts on goal as Cardiff pushed forward.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Summary
Cardiff replaced winger Burke with forward Ross McCormack but, as their frustration grew, they committed more players to attacks and Blackpool created several chances late in the game as they looked to counter-attack. However, both sides were unable to convert any chances and the match eventually finished with Blackpool securing a 3–2 victory.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
By winning the match, Blackpool returned to the first tier of English football for the first time since the 1970–71 season and were described in The Daily Telegraph as the "smallest club" to reach the Premier League. The club's home ground, Bloomfield Road, became one of the smallest grounds in Premier League history, initially able to hold around 12,000 spectators until a mid-season upgrade increased the capacity to 16,750. Holloway became only the second Blackpool manager to win promotion in his first season at the club, alongside Les Shannon who managed the 1970–71 team. Holloway described himself as "bursting with pride" over the club's promotion to the Premier League in his first season in the role. Blackpool midfielder Keith Southern was named man of the match.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
The club appointed a five-man panel to allocate the promised £5 million promotion bonus. This consisted of chairman Karl Oyston, Holloway, club captain Jason Euell, the club's Professional Footballers' Association representative Paul Rachubka and Stephen Crainey. Oyston later revealed that the club's squad had voted to exclude three players from the bonus payout, former loan signings Marcel Seip and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and an unnamed contracted player. Emmanuel-Thomas and the unnamed player accepted a lower payout but defender Seip later sued the club over his share of the promotion bonus having been excluded from the payout. Having played seven matches during the season, he was later awarded £72,206 plus legal costs and interest.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Loanees Séamus Coleman and DJ Campbell both returned to their parent clubs at the end of the season. A permanent deal for Leicester City striker Campbell was completed on 31 August 2010 despite Blackpool initially refusing to pay the asking price. Ben Burgess was the only contracted player in the play-off final matchday squad to leave the club prior to the Premier League season, joining Notts County.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
The following season, Blackpool, who earned praise for their attacking style of play, were relegated on the final day of the season having lost 4–2 to Manchester United. In their first season back in the Championship, with the promise of another promotion bonus, Holloway led the club to another play-off final where they suffered a 2–1 defeat to West Ham United. In November 2012, Holloway left Blackpool after being offered the manager's job at Crystal Palace. Following Holloway's departure, the club struggled under several managers and were eventually relegated to League One in 2014 and then suffered a second relegation in successive years, to League Two.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Cardiff reached the play-offs again in the 2010–11 season after finishing fourth but suffered defeat in the semi-final, losing 3–0 on aggregate to Reading. The defeat would ultimately cost Cardiff manager Dave Jones his job as the club decided to terminate his contract following an end-of-season performance review. At the time of his departure, Jones was the longest serving manager in the Championship. After a third successive defeat in the play-offs in 2012, Cardiff gained promotion to the Premier League in 2013 by winning the Championship title.


2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
The match was the last game at Cardiff for several players involved including Joe Ledley and substitutes Mark Kennedy, Ross McCormack, Tony Capaldi and Peter Enckelman. The five were among eleven first-team players to depart after the final.


2010 Football League Cup Final
The 2010 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2009–10 Football League Cup, the 50th season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and The Football League. The match, played at Wembley Stadium on 28 February 2010, was won by Manchester United, who beat Aston Villa 2–1. Aston Villa took the lead in the fifth minute of the game, via a James Milner penalty kick, but Michael Owen equalised for Manchester United seven minutes later. Wayne Rooney, who replaced the injured Owen shortly before half time, scored the winning goal with 16 minutes left to play.


2010 Football League Cup Final
Manchester United went into the match as defending champions, having beaten Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the 2009 final. The win gave them their fourth Football League Cup title, their third in five years and their second in succession, becoming the first team to retain the trophy since Nottingham Forest in 1990. It was the first time Manchester United successfully defended a major cup, having been losing finalists as title holders in the 1995 and 2005 FA Cup, and the 2009 Champions League finals. Since Manchester United qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League via their league position, the place in the following season's Europa League which would have been given to the winners of the League Cup was instead given to Villa, since they finished in sixth place in the 2009–10 Premier League.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Background
Out of the 173 previous meetings between the two sides, Manchester United had won 87 and Aston Villa had won 49, with the remaining 37 games finishing as draws; however, Villa's record in the League Cup against United was markedly better, with four wins in six matches between them. United's only League Cup win over Aston Villa came in October 1975, when they won 2–1 at Villa Park in the third round. The only previous meeting between the two teams in the final of the competition came in 1994, when Villa won 3–1 and United winger Andrei Kanchelskis became the first player to be sent off in a League Cup final.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Background
Aston Villa hold the advantage over Manchester United in the league matches between the two sides in 2009–10, having beaten the Premier League champions 1–0 at Old Trafford in December and holding them to a 1–1 draw at Villa Park three weeks before the League Cup final.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Background
Both Manchester United and Aston Villa had played in seven Football League Cup finals, but Manchester United had only won three compared to Villa's five. United's most recent victory, however, came in 2009 – when they beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties – whereas Villa's last League Cup title came in 1996, when they beat Leeds United 3–0. Manchester United went into the match looking to become the first team to retain the League Cup since Nottingham Forest in 1990.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match, Ticketing
Since 2008, the final of the Football League Cup has been played at Wembley Stadium in London. The stadium has a capacity of 90,000 spectators, and each team received an allocation of 31,750 tickets for their supporters. Both clubs chose to limit their initial applications to season ticket holders, with priority given to those supporters who had attended more cup games up to that point in the season.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match, Match ball
The match ball for the 2010 League Cup final is a variation of the Mitre Revolve ball used by The Football League. The ball is white and patterned with black with gold trim. 150 balls were produced for the two teams to train with prior to the final, each of which is stamped with a unique identifying number and the date of the match. The ball also features a special logo that reads "FIFTY" – in recognition of the 50th season of the League Cup – where the letter I is replaced by an image of the League Cup trophy.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match, Officials
Staffordshire-based referee Phil Dowd was named as the referee for the 2010 League Cup final on 1 February 2010. His only previous cup final experience came in 2006, when he was the fourth official for the 2006 FA Cup Final. His assistants for the match were Shaun Procter-Green from Lincolnshire and David Richardson from West Yorkshire, with Lee Mason from Lancashire acting as fourth official.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony for the match began with the Football League Cup trophy being brought out onto the field of play by Manchester United fan Private Dave Tatlock of 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment; Tatlock had been wounded while on tour in Afghanistan in 2008. A piece of shrapnel embedded in his spine, leaving him paralysed, and he had been told by doctors that he would never walk again. Within four weeks, he regained feeling in his legs, and three months later he was able to walk with the aid of a stick. At the time of the match, he was waiting for an operation that would fully restore his mobility.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match, Opening ceremony
The players and officials then emerged from the tunnel and lined up along a red carpet, accompanied by their team mascots; Manchester United's mascot was seven-year-old Charlie Simpson, selected for his fund-raising efforts in aid of the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, while Aston Villa were led out by six-year-old Ben Clay, whose identical twin Oliver has cerebral palsy and attends a hospice run by Acorns Children's Hospice, whose logo Aston Villa wear on their shirts. The teams were then presented to the day's guests of honour: Brian Mawhinney, chairman of The Football League, and Martin Thomas, the Supply Chain Director of Molson Coors (UK), who own the Carling brand. Finally, the national anthem was sung by 21-year-old Camilla Kerslake.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Team selection
Aston Villa went into the match with only two players unavailable due to injury: forward Marlon Harewood (foot) and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker (ankle); although midfielder Stiliyan Petrov had missed the previous game with a virus. Defender James Collins and forward Emile Heskey were both rested for Villa's FA Cup fifth round replay against Crystal Palace on 24 February. Also rested was goalkeeper Brad Friedel, indicating manager Martin O'Neill's intention for Friedel to start the final, despite reserve goalkeeper Brad Guzan having started each of Villa's other League Cup matches during the season. Defender Stephen Warnock had been suffering a shin problem earlier in the season, but he was given two weeks of rest before returning to the Villa side for their last three matches before the final to gain some match fitness.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Team selection
Manchester United, on the other hand, were beset by injury and suspension; midfielder Ryan Giggs broke his arm in the league match between the two teams 18 days earlier, forcing him to miss a month of the season, while fellow midfielder Anderson suffered an injury to the cruciate ligament in his left knee against Everton and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Team selection
Defender Rio Ferdinand had been expected to play in the match following a four-match suspension for an incident against Hull City, but he suffered a recurrence of a back problem that had kept him out of contention for three months earlier in the season. Also missing with long-term injuries for United were midfielder Owen Hargreaves (knee) and defender John O'Shea (thigh), while midfielder Nani was suspended for three matches after being sent off for a two-footed tackle on Stiliyan Petrov in the match between United and Villa on 10 February.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Team selection
Aston Villa's team was as expected, with the possible exception of Friedel starting in goal ahead of Guzan. Martin O'Neill played a 4–4–2 formation with Heskey and Agbonlahor in attack and Ashley Young and Stewart Downing on the wings, while Stephen Warnock was deemed fit enough to play at left-back and Stiliyan Petrov recovered from his virus to captain the side from central midfield.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Team selection
The biggest surprise in the teams selected by both managers was Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to leave in-form striker Wayne Rooney on the bench, opting instead to partner Michael Owen with Dimitar Berbatov up front and play four in midfield. Also surprising was Ferguson's decision to play Tomasz Kuszczak in goal ahead of Edwin van der Sar, who had been rested in midweek. It later came to light that Rooney had a minor knee injury and was named on the bench as a precaution.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Aston Villa began the game quickly, earning an early free kick on the left wing before taking the lead with a penalty kick in the fifth minute; Gabriel Agbonlahor was played in behind the United defence and outpaced Nemanja Vidić to the penalty area, where the Serbian defender grabbed hold of the English striker's shirt before lunging in with a clumsy challenge. Referee Phil Dowd pointed to the penalty spot immediately, but chose not to show Vidić a red card, despite Vidić being the last defender between Agbonlahor and the goal. James Milner took the penalty and sent goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak the wrong way with a side-footed finish to the bottom-right corner.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Manchester United equalised seven minutes later after capitalising on an uncharacteristic mistake by Richard Dunne. Dimitar Berbatov caught Dunne in possession inside the Aston Villa half and ran towards the goal; although Dunne was able to catch up to Berbatov, his tackle only succeeded in finding its way to Michael Owen on the edge of the penalty area, where he swept the ball past Brad Friedel into the bottom-left corner of the goal. Milner had a chance to double his tally and restore his side's lead four minutes later with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but Kuszczak kept the scores level with a diving, two-handed save.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
As the first half drew to a close, Owen pulled up with a hamstring injury as he chased down a ball into the Aston Villa penalty area; Wayne Rooney came on to replace him in the 41st minute. Park Ji-sung almost gave Manchester United the lead in injury time at the end of the first half, as James Collins' attempted clearance from Antonio Valencia's cross fell to him just inside the penalty area, but his shot hit the post.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
Michael Carrick had the first significant chance of the second half in the 49th minute, when he forced Friedel into a low, diving save after making space for himself with a neat turn on the edge of the box. It took until the 74th minute for United to take the lead, as Rooney beat Friedel with a looping header; Berbatov found Valencia on the right side of the penalty area near the goal line, and the Ecuadorian stood up a cross into the centre, where Rooney outjumped Collins to head back across goal his 28th goal of the season. Rooney almost scored again with another header three minutes later, but it hit the foot of the left-hand post.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
Villa's search for an equaliser resulted in Norwegian striker John Carew coming on for Spanish right-back Carlos Cuellar with 10 minutes to play, and Carew almost had an immediate impact; as Stewart Downing crossed from the right wing, Carew's presence caused confusion in the Manchester United penalty area, and Vidić knew little about it as Heskey's header ricocheted off his shoulder and up onto the top of the crossbar.


2010 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
Dunne had a chance to equalise in the dying minutes as Downing chipped a cross to the far post, but he didn't make good enough contact on his header and it went harmlessly wide. United managed to survive the four minutes of injury time at the end of the second half to take the victory, the first team to retain the League Cup since Nottingham Forest in 1990 and the first time they had retained a cup trophy in their history.


2010 Football League One play-off Final
The 2010 Football League One play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Millwall and Swindon Town to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship.


2010 Football League One play-off Final
The top two teams of the 2009–10 Football League One season, Norwich City and Leeds United, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2010–11 season in the Championship. Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town were the losing semi-finalists, having been defeated by Swindon and Millwall respectively.


2010 Football League One play-off Final
The referee for the match, which was played in front of 73,108 spectators, was Colin Webster. Both sides failed to capitalise on early chances to score, while an own-goal header by Swindon's Kevin Amankwaah was disallowed, as Millwall's Liam Trotter had been offside in the build-up. Steve Morison's shot was then blocked before Paul Robinson scored to make it 1–0 to Millwall: Scott Cuthbert's header from Danny Schofield's corner fell to Robinson who struck from close range.


2010 Football League One play-off Final
In the 72nd minute, a through-ball from Robinson sent Charlie Austin clear but his shot was high over the Millwall crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat. Austin saw the final chance of the match pushed round the post by Millwall goalkeeper David Forde to ensure the match ended 1–0. Millwall were promoted to the Championship in their first success in the play-offs in six attempts.


2010 Football League One play-off Final
Swindon Town ended their following season bottom of the League One table and were relegated to League Two. Millwall's next season saw them finish in ninth place in the Championship, three positions and eight points outside the play-offs.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Millwall finished the regular 2009–10 season in third place in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Swindon Town. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Football League Championship and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Millwall finished one point behind Leeds United (who were promoted in second place) and ten behind league winners Norwich City. Swindon Town ended the season a further three points behind Millwall. Southampton would have finished the season in fifth position in League One but they had been penalised with a ten-point deduction as a result of the club's parent company going into administration.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Swindon Town's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Charlton Athletic with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at the County Ground in Swindon on 14 May 2010. The home side dominated the first half but it ended goalless. Early in the second half, Charlton's Nicky Bailey saw his curling shot hit the inside of a Swindon goalpost. Charlie Austin put Swindon ahead on 52 minutes with a header from Alan Sheehan's cross.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Eight minutes later, Simon Ferry and Darren Ward had a two-on-one with Darren Randolph after a quick break and Ward scored with a low shot to make it 2–0. Deon Burton headed past David Lucas in the Swindon goal in the 65th minute following a long pass from Randolph to halve the deficit; the match ended 2–1. The second leg of the semi-final was played three days later at the Valley in Charlton. Within five minutes of the start, Lucas was forced off with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Phil Smith.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Charlton controlled the first half and went ahead with an own goal from Ferry in the 27th minute. In stoppage time, the home side doubled their lead with a 16-yard (15 m) strike from Dave Mooney. Midway through the second half, Gordon Greer was sent off for Swindon after a high challenge on Burton, but on 74 minutes Ward scored to level the tie on aggregate. Miguel Llera was then sent off for Charlton after dragging down Austin and the game went into extra time. With no further goals in the additional 30 minutes, the tie went to a penalty shootout. Bailey missed Charlton's second spot kick and with all other penalties being converted, Swindon won 5–4 and progressed to the final.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Millwall faced Huddersfield Town in their play-off semi-final with the first leg being held at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield on 15 May 2010. The visitors seldom threatened during the first half but saw two penalty appeals turned down by the referee, and the match ended goalless. The second leg took place three days later at the New Den in London. Steve Morison opened the scoring midway through the first half when the ball fell to him at short range after Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies pushed out a cross. Scott Barron then struck the crossbar before Paul Robinson scored from a corner with eight minutes remaining to make it 2–0 which remained the final score and saw Millwall qualify for the final.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
This was Swindon's sixth trip to the play-offs and their fourth final, having gained promotion in the 1987 Football League Third Division play-off Final, the 1990 Football League Second Division play-off Final (before being relegated due to financial irregularities) and the 1993 Football League First Division play-off Final. They had played in League One since being promoted in the 2006–07 season. Millwall had also participated in the play-offs on five previous occasions; they had failed to progress past the semi-finals other than in the previous season, when they had lost 3–2 to Scunthorpe in the final. They had been relegated to League One in the 2005–06 season.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
In the matches between the sides during the regular season, the first encounter at the County Ground in October 2009 ended in a 1–1 draw while the return match at the New Den the following May was a 3–2 victory for Millwall. Swindon's top scorer during the regular season was Billy Paynter who had scored 29 goals (26 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 2 in the League Cup), followed by Austin with 19 (all in the league).


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
Top marksmen for Millwall were Morison, who had scored 22 goals during the regular season (20 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup) and Neil Harris with 18 (13 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 4 in the League Cup). According to The Daily Telegraph, winning the match was worth £5 million to the successful club.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The referee for the final was Colin Webster. Millwall made one change to the side that beat Huddersfield in the play-off semi final with Jack Smith being replaced by Shaun Batt. Swindon's starting eleven for the final saw two changes to the side that started the play-off second leg against Charlton:  Kevin Amankwaah and Sheehan came in for Stephen Darby and Greer. The match was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. Both sides adopted a 4–4–2 formation.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
Millwall kicked off the match in cold and wet conditions at around 3 p.m. on 29 May 2010 in front of 73,108 spectators at Wembley Stadium, London. Seven minutes in, the first opportunity fell to Harris who beat the offside trap before running into the Swindon penalty area. His chip was pushed behind the goal-line by Swindon goalkeeper Lucas but the subsequent corner came to nothing. A short backpass from Scott Cuthbert allowed Morison an opportunity but Lucas cleared the ball. Two minutes later Morison's lob went over the crossbar after he had received a pass from Danny Schofield.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
In the 28th minute, Austin's strike from distance went over Millwall's goal before Swindon's Amankwaah headed the ball into his own net; the referee disallowed the own goal as Liam Trotter had been adjudged offside in the build-up. Morisons's shot was then blocked before Robinson scored in the 39th minute to make it 1–0 to Millwall: Cuthbert's header from Schofield's corner fell to Robinson who struck from close range. Minutes before half-time, Millwall were forced to make the first change of the afternoon with Tony Craig coming off with a foot injury and being replaced by Andy Frampton. The half ended with the score 1–0.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
Neither side made any personnel changes during the interval and two minutes after the second half kicked off, Swindon's first opportunity came through a free kick after Millwall's goalkeeper David Forde carried the ball out of the box. Sheehan took the set piece but his curling strike was cleared. Swindon maintained their pressure but both Schofield and Trotter had close shots for Millwall. Swindon's Lecsinel Jean-François then saw his header saved by a diving Forde before Millwall's Morison despatched a weak shot from inside the opposition area.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
In the 67th minute, Darby came on to replace Sheehan for Swindon before Millwall's Chris Hackett was brought on for Batt. Five minutes later, a through-ball from Robinson allowed Austin to run clear of the defenders but his shot was high over the crossbar with only the goalkeeper to beat. In the 73rd minute, Alan O'Brien replaced Jon-Paul McGovern in Swindon's second substitution. On 80 minutes, Jean-François became the first player to be shown the yellow card for a foul on Morison. Shortly thereafter, Vincent Péricard came on to replace Paynter. Late pressure from Swindon failed to produce any goals, and Austin saw the final chance of the match pushed round the post by Forde to ensure the match ended 1–0 and Millwall were promoted to the Championship.


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Post-match
Kenny Jackett, the winning manager, said that his club would "look forward now quickly though because we want to compete next season, without a doubt" but also reflected on recent defeats in the play-offs: "I'm so proud to be the first man to lead Millwall to victory at Wembley and I can't wait to lead these boys out in the Championship." His counterpart Danny Wilson spoke of Austin's late chance: "The boy didn't miss it, the ball bobbled and the pitch dictated. When he went through you'd put your house on him." Paynter concurred, saying "[Austin] thought it was his fault but the pitch played its part." Winning goalscorer Robinson was jubilant and recalled that "to score the winning goal and lift a trophy at Wembley ... that's all I ever dreamt of."


2010 Football League One play-off Final, Post-match
Swindon Town ended their following season bottom of the League One table and were relegated to League Two. Wilson had resigned as manager in March 2011 with the side in the bottom four of the division, with Paynter, Greer and Austin all having left club earlier in the season. Millwall's next season saw them finish in ninth place in the Championship, three positions and eight points outside the play-offs.


2010 Football League Trophy Final
The 2010 Football League Trophy Final was the 27th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 28 March 2010. The match was contested between Carlisle United and Southampton. Southampton won the match 4–1 to give them their first silverware since winning the 1976 FA Cup.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final
The 2010 Football League Two play-off Final was an association football match played on 30 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Dagenham & Redbridge and Rotherham United. The match determined the fourth and final team to gain promotion from Football League Two, English football's fourth tier, to Football League One. The top three teams of the 2009–10 Football League Two season gained automatic promotion to League One, while the teams placed from fourth to seventh took part in play-off semi-finals; the winners competed for the final place for the 2010–11 season in League One. Rotherham United finished in fifth place while Dagenham & Redbridge ended the season in seventh position. They defeated Aldershot Town and Morecambe, respectively, in the semi-finals.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final
The final, refereed by James Linington, kicked off around 3 p.m. in front of 32,054 spectators. Both sides had early chances to score but in the 38th minute, a low cross from Damien McCrory found Paul Benson in space who scored with a curling shot into the bottom corner of the Rotherham goal. Within a minute Rotherham's Ryan Taylor ran between two defenders to head past Tony Roberts from a Kevin Ellison cross, making the score 1–1 at half time.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final
Danny Green put Dagenham back into the lead eleven minutes after the restart with a low strike past Andy Warrington in the Rotherham goal. Taylor scored the equaliser in the 61st minute from inside the Dagenham penalty area. With 20 minutes remaining, Rotherham failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Jon Nurse whose shot took a deflection off Ellison, past Warrington and into the net to make it 3–2. No further goals were scored and Dagenham were promoted to League One.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final
Dagenham & Redbridge ended their following season in 21st position in League One and were relegated back to League Two. Rotherham ended the next season in ninth place in League Two, two places below the 2011 play-offs.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
Rotherham United finished the regular 2009–10 season in fifth place in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, two places ahead of Dagenham & Redbridge. Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to Football League One and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Rotherham United finished nine points behind Rochdale (who were promoted in third place), ten behind Bournemouth (who were promoted in second place), and twenty behind league winners Notts County. Dagenham & Redbridge ended the season one point behind Rotherham United.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
Dagenham & Redbridge's opponents in their play-off semi-final were Morecambe with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place on 16 May 2010 at Victoria Road in Dagenham. Paul Benson scored the opening goal of the game after four minutes for Dagenham after Morecambe's goalkeeper Barry Roche pushed out Josh Scott's header. Scott then scored a 19-minute hat-trick to make it 4–0 with more than half an hour remaining. Benson scored his second and Dagenham's fifth midway through the second half; before Scott scored his fourth three minutes later.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
The match ended 6–0 and Dagenham became the first team to score more than five goals in the first leg of a league play-off semi-final. The second leg took place four days later at Christie Park in Morecambe. After a goalless first half, Mark Duffy's volley from close range made it 1–0 to Morecambe in the 81st minute before Benson headed in an equaliser four minutes later. One minute into stoppage time Dave Artell's header made the final score 2–1 to Morecambe, but Dagenham progressed to the final with a 7–2 aggregate win.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
Rotherham United faced Aldershot Town in their semi-final and the first leg was played on 15 May 2010 at the Recreation Ground in Aldershot. The home side's Marvin Morgan had the best chance of the first half but his shot was saved by the Rotherham goalkeeper Andy Warrington. Midway through the first half, Aldershot's goalkeeper Jamie Young was stretchered off with an injury and replaced by Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz. With two minutes of the match remaining, Adam Le Fondre intercepted a backpass from Aaron Brown and shot past Jaimez-Ruiz to secure a 1–0 win for the visitors.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
The second leg of the semi-final was held at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield four days later. Ian Sharps hit the Aldershot crossbar, but Le Fondre headed home the rebound from close range to give Rotherham the lead just before half time. Midway through the second half, Kevin Ellison's header from a Nicky Law cross beat Jaimez-Ruiz to make it 2–0 which was the final score. Rotherham won the tie 3–0 on aggregate and qualified for the final.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
This was Rotherham United's third appearance in the play-offs. They had suffered relegation to the fourth tier of English football when they lost to Swansea City in the semi-finals of the 1988 Football League play-offs, and lost to Leyton Orient in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals of the 1999 play-off. Rotherham had been relegated from League One in the 2006–07 season and had been given a series of points deductions for entering administration on two separate occasions between 2006 and 2008.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
Dagenham were promoted from non-League football for the first time in their history when they finished top of the 2006–07 Football Conference, and had played in League Two since. They had not partcipated in the Football League play-offs before, although had played in the 2003 Football Conference play-off Final at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent where they lost 3–2 to Doncaster Rovers. Rotherham had won both games between the sides during the regular season with a 2–0 victory at the Don Valley Stadium in February 2010 and a 1–0 win at Victoria Road the following month.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
Rotherham's top scorer during the regular season was Le Fondre with 27 goals (25 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup) followed by Ellison with 10 (8 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup and 1 in the League Cup). Dagenham's leading marksmen were Benson with 18 goals (17 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup), Danny Green with 13 (all in the league) and Scott with 11 (10 in the league, 1 in the League Cup).


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
The final was refereed by James Linington. Rotherham were considered favourites to win by bookmakers. Both sides adopted a 4–4–2 formation, and both starting elevens were unchanged from their semi-final second legs. The match was broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. on 30 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 32,054 spectators. Dagenham dominated the early stages, with Rotherham's goalkeeper Andy Warrington saving a shot from Green. Rotherham then had chances to score with Pablo Mills missing a header before three separate efforts from Ryan Taylor all failed to produce a goal. In the 30th minute, Romain Vincelot's bicycle kick was saved by Warrington before Sharps received the first yellow card of the match for unsporting behaviour:  Warrington kept the resulting free kick from Green out.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Three minutes later, Le Fondre was also booked, also for unsporting behaviour. In the 38th minute, a low cross from Damien McCrory found Benson in space who scored with a curling shot into the bottom corner of the Rotherham goal. Rotherham levelled the game within a minute as Taylor ran between two defenders to head past Tony Roberts from an Ellison cross, making the score 1–1 at half time.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Neither side made any changes to their personnel during the interval. Green put Dagenham back into the lead eleven minutes after the restart with a low strike past Warrington and was booked a minute later for a foul on Danny Harrison. In the 60th minute, Harrison shot over the Dagenham crossbar before Taylor scored the equaliser a minute later from inside the Dagenham penalty area, before being booked in the 57th minute for a foul on Danny Harrison.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
With 20 minutes remaining, Rotherham failed to clear a corner and the ball fell to Jon Nurse whose shot took a deflection off Ellison, past Warrington and into the net to make it 3–2. Two minutes after scoring, Nurse was taken off and substituted for Graeme Montgomery in the first change of the afternoon. Five minutes later Marcus Marshall came on for Mills. On 83 minutes, Scott was replaced by Phil Walsh for Dagenham. Benson's shot from inside the penalty area went wide of the Rotherham goal before Abdulai Bell-Baggie was brought on for Ellison. Vincelot was then shown the yellow card for a foul on Gavin Gunning. The match ended 3–2 and Dagenham were promoted to League One.


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Post-match
Winning manager John Still said "We'll probably be the biggest-ever favourites to be relegated but this is a fairy story". His counterpart Ronnie Moore suggested disappointment in his defence, saying that "if you defend like we have you're not going to win ... We should've gone up but we're still here ... We have let ourselves down a bit at the final hour." Roberts, Dagenham's 40-year-old goalkeeper, said: "We are a pub team from Essex but look at us now ...


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Post-match
Years ago we were playing Charlton trying to knock them out of the FA Cup as a non-league team, next year we are going to play Charlton in the league, I can't believe it". Dagenham goalscorer Green, who had been signed by Still from sixth-tier Bishop's Stortford of the National League South, described it as the "best day of my life". Despite his two goals, Rotherham's Taylor said he was disappointed: "Scoring twice at Wembley is a great achievement, but we haven't gone up so it doesn't mean anything."


2010 Football League Two play-off Final, Post-match
Dagenham & Redbridge ended their following season in 21st position in League One and were relegated back to League Two. Rotherham end the next season in ninth place in League Two, two places below the 2011 play-offs.


2010 Football League play-offs
The Football League play-offs for the 2009–10 season were held in May 2010, with the finals taking place at Wembley Stadium in London. The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs, contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Championship and League One and the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th placed teams in the League Two table. The winners of the semi-finals went through to the finals, with the winner of the final gaining promotion for the following season.


2010 Football League play-offs, Background
The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.


2010 Football League play-offs, Background
In the Championship, Nottingham Forest, who were aiming to return to the top flight for the first time since 1999, finished 12 points behind second placed West Bromwich Albion, who in turn finished 11 points behind champions Newcastle United, who returned to the top flight at the first attempt after relegation from the Premier League on the last day the season before. Cardiff City who haven't been in the top flight since 1962, finished in fourth place in the table.


2010 Football League play-offs, Background
Leicester City who finished as champions of League One the season before, finished in fifth place looking for a return to the top flight for the first time in 6 years. Blackpool finished 6 points behind Leicester and Cardiff on 70 points, looking for a first spell back in the top flight since 1971.


2010 Football League play-offs, Championship, Semi-finals
Cardiff City 3–3 Leicester City on aggregate. Cardiff City won 4–3 on penalties.


2010 Football League play-offs, League One, Semi-finals
Charlton Athletic 3–3 Swindon Town on aggregate. Swindon Town won 5–4 on penalties.


2010 Football NSW season
The Football NSW 2010 season was the top flight football competition format in New South Wales. The competition consisted of four divisions across the State of New South Wales.


2010 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2010 NSW Premier League
The 2010 NSW Premier League season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 27 February with the regular season concluding on 1 August 2010.


2010 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2010 NSW Super League
The 2010 NSW Super League season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 20 March with the regular season concluding on 15 August 2010.


2010 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2010 NSW Super League
NB Two matches were postponed and subsequently couldn't be played.


2010 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2010 NSW State League Division 1
The 2010 NSW State League Division 1 season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 20 March with the regular season concluding on 15 August 2010.


2010 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2010 NSW State League Division 2
The 2010 NSW State League Division 2 season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 20 March with the regular season concluding on 22 August 2010.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season
The 2010 season for Footon–Servetto–Fuji began in January with the Tour de San Luis and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to attend every event in the ProTour.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season
The team's ridership changed drastically between the 2009 and 2010 seasons, bringing in a sizeable number of new cyclists. Only 5 of its 25 riders were retained from 2009. Six of the departures joined other ProTour teams for 2010, while of the twenty one new cyclists the team acquired, none rode at that level in 2009.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Stage races
Valls took the team's first stage win of the year, at the Tour de San Luis. Valls broke away from specialist climbers in the leading peloton to solo to the finish line. The victory also gave him the overall leadership in the race at the time. Valls also won the race's mountains classification. The team next took a stage win at the first ProTour event of the season, the Tour Down Under. On an undulating, hilly stage 3 marked by rain and hot temperatures, Portuguese national champion Cardoso broke away from the leading group headed by Caisse d'Epargne in the final kilometer to take victory a second ahead of big names such as Alejandro Valverde, Cadel Evans, and Michael Rogers.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The team was one of 22 invited to the Giro d'Italia. They were not competitive at any point in the race. After failing to have any riders contesting the finishes to the Giro's first two road race stages, their best-placed rider in the overall standings before the transfer to Italy was Brändle in 51st, two minutes back of the race leader. The squad's time in the stage 4 team time trial was provisionally second-best for much of the day, but it ended up being good for only 14th place.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
In stage 9, Cheula made the morning breakaway, but the stage was decided by a mass sprint, in which Eibegger was 10th. In stage 13, Mayoz made a successful breakaway and came close to a stage win, finishing third in the sprint behind Manuel Belletti and Greg Henderson. This was as close as the team came to any victories. Their best rider in the final overall standings was Mayoz in 22nd place, over an hour back of Giro champion Ivan Basso. The squad also had the dubious distinction of fielding the last-place overall rider; this was Corti, at a deficit to Basso of nearly five hours. They were 18th in the Trofeo Fast Team standings and last in the Trofeo Super Team.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
With the guaranteed invite awarded in September 2008 to the former Saunier Duval-Scott team (this same team with different sponsors), Footon was one of 22 teams in the Tour de France. They were, as they were most of the season, greatly overmatched by their competition – none of the nine riders on Footon's squad had previously ridden any Grand Tour.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Cardoso, who earlier in the season had taken the team's only ProTour-level win, crashed hard near the end of the 10 km (6.2 mi) prologue time trial, and completed it six minutes slower than stage winner Fabian Cancellara. He did not start the first road race stage the next day. The team showed combativity in early stages. Mayoz made it to the morning breakaway with four others in stage 4, but their group was easily caught before a field sprint finish won by Alessandro Petacchi.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
In stage 7, Valls rode with the leading group on the road after making a selection in the leading peloton. He rode the late parts of the stage just behind the day's winner Sylvain Chavanel, taking second place 57 seconds behind him and 50 seconds ahead of the race's elite riders. Capecchi also rode solidly on this day, taking tenth on the stage from within the main peloton. Benitez found the breakaway in stage 11, but the group did not stay away. Pérez was in the breakaway in stage 15.


2010 Footon–Servetto–Fuji season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
While Thomas Voeckler was the winner that day, Pérez did hold on for third, as the race's elite riders did not try to catch all members of the day's escape. Valls was the team's highest-placed overall finisher, coming in 53rd at a deficit of one hour and 42 minutes to Tour champion Alberto Contador. The squad was 20th in the teams classification.


2010 Ford 400
The 2010 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 21, 2010 at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The 267 lap race was the thirty-sixth in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the final race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Carl Edwards for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Kevin Harvick clinched third.


2010 Ford 400
Pole position driver Kasey Kahne maintained his lead on the first lap of the race. Edwards started in the second position on the grid, and became the leader of the race on the fourth lap. Shortly after a restart on lap 22, championship leader Denny Hamlin spun sideways, resulting with damage to his splitter. Martin Truex, Jr. took the lead on lap 73, but after the final pit stops Edwards was first. He maintained the lead to win the race, having led it for 192 laps.


2010 Ford 400
A total of 67,000 people attended the race, while 5.605 million watched it on television. There were ten cautions in the race, as well as twenty-five lead changes among nine different drivers. Edwards' victory was his second win in the 2010 season, with the first coming the previous week at the Kobalt Tools 500. Jimmie Johnson won the Drivers' Championship, 39 points ahead of Denny Hamlin. Johnson's team owner Rick Hendrick won the Owners' Championship. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer Championship with 261 points, 44 points ahead of Toyota.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Background
Homestead Miami Speedway is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race was held on the standard track at Homestead Miami Speedway; a four-turn oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. The track's turns are banked from 18 to 20 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at three degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a three degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 65,000 spectators.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Background
Heading into the final race of the season, Toyota driver Denny Hamlin was leading the Drivers' Championship with 6,462 points; Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson was second with 6,447 points, 15 points behind Hamlin. A maximum of 195 points were available for the final race. Behind Hamlin and Johnson in the Drivers' Championship, Kevin Harvick was third with 6,416 points in a Chevrolet, and Carl Edwards was fourth with 6,198 points. Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturer's Championship, and entered the race on 255 points, 42 points ahead of Toyota on 213 points, with a maximum of nine points available at the Ford 400. Hamlin was the race's defending winner, after his victory at the 2009 race.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon. The first Saturday practice lasted 45 minutes, while the second lasted 60. Edwards was quickest with a time of 30.710 seconds in the first session, 0.134 seconds faster than Kyle Busch. Johnson was just off Busch's pace, followed by Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, and Jeff Gordon. Kasey Kahne was seventh, still within a second of Edwards's time.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Forty-five cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kahne clinched the 20th pole position of his career, with a time of 30.525 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Edwards. McMurray qualified third, Bill Elliott took fourth, and A. J. Allmendinger started fifth. Johnson, David Reutimann, Mark Martin, David Ragan and Regan Smith rounded out the top ten. Hamlin only managed 37th, having getting close to the wall. The two drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Patrick Carpentier, and Michael McDowell.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Once the qualifying session completed, Kahne commented, "That was the best qualifying run by far since I joined Red Bull. I look forward to Sunday’s race. It’s going to be exciting being up front now, being in the mix with Denny [Hamlin], Kevin [Harvick] and Jimmie [Johnson]. They’re all going to be fast throughout the race. I’m just glad we are so far. Hopefully we can stick with it tomorrow, have a good practice and be competitive in the mix on Sunday."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
In the second practice session, Busch was fastest with a time of 31.425 seconds, less than five-hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Jeff Burton. Gordon took third place, ahead of Greg Biffle, Martin and Hamlin. Johnson only managed 11th place.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
"I think for all these teams, the bigger goal is win it for the organization. That's why you probably see the crew swaps and stuff. They're doing what's best to win for their organization because they know if one of those teams wins that championship, it's going to benefit all of them. There's a bigger picture than each individual driver winning a championship."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Harvick was only quick enough for 19th position. In the third and final practice, Burton was quickest with a time of 31.850 seconds. Kahne followed in second, ahead of Martin Truex, Jr. and Hamlin. Jamie McMurray was fifth quickest, with a time of 31.916 seconds. Edwards, Gordon, Ragan, Biffle, and Aric Almirola rounded out the first ten positions. Johnson, who was eleventh in the second session, could only manage 22nd. Following the third practice session, Harvick stated, "We didn't put up a fast lap but it never slows down. I'm really excited."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Practice and qualifying
Afterward, Johnson commented "We struggled a little bit maybe in the first practice. But I found a good direction and started making some good gains there at the end. I feel really good about our car. It's very comfortable. I can run the top, run the bottom. I think we're in good shape." "I think we've got the balance real close," Johnson continued. "My motor's running great. Maybe some overall grip but I think there I'm one of 43 guys that are saying that. This hot sun out here [is making] the track awful slick."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
The race, the last in the season, began at 1:00 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on ESPN. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, the air temperature at 80 °F (27 °C); overcast skies were expected. Tim Griffin began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation. Next, Bret Michaels along with Miami native Nanette Melina, performed the national anthem, and gave the command for drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Sam Hornish had to move to the rear of the grid because of changing to his backup car.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Kasey Kahne retained his pole position lead into the first corner, followed by Carl Edwards, who started second. On the following two laps, Jimmie Johnson took over the fourth position. On the fourth lap, Edwards passed Kahne for the first position. After starting from 37th, Denny Hamlin had moved to 27th by lap six. Eleventh-placed qualifier Jeff Gordon joined teammate Johnson in the top ten four laps later. Johnson passed A. J. Allmendinger on lap 12 to claim the third position, as David Reutimann and Kurt Busch collided into the wall.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Five laps later, the first caution was given after Reutimann collided into the wall again. Most of the front runners made pit stops, except for J. J. Yeley, who didn't pit until the following lap. At the lap 22 restart, Edwards was first, ahead of Kahne, Allmendinger, and Johnson. Hamlin turned sideways and drove through the grass in the infield, prompting the second caution on the following lap. Hamlin only sustained minor damage to his splitter. Edwards remained the leader during the restart, while Allmendinger took over second from Kahne.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
After starting 28th, Kevin Harvick had advanced to the tenth position by lap 28. Two laps later, Greg Biffle said on his team radio that he could smell smoke in his race car, which his team responded that it was probably a tire rubbing against the car. During lap 34, Martin Truex, Jr. moved to seventh, having started 25th on the grid. Four laps later, Hamlin had moved to the 22nd position after his earlier accident. On the 41st lap, Truex, Jr. moved past Johnson to claim the fourth position, while Hamlin continued to move toward the front runners.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Edwards had over a one-second lead over the second position by lap 46. On the following lap, Hamlin took over the 18th position. After 50 laps, only 38 cars remained on the same lap as the leader. Edwards continued to expand his lead from 1.33 to 1.6 seconds in only five laps. On lap 54, Edwards was the leader, ahead of Allmendinger, Kahne, Truex, and Johnson.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Matt Kenseth took over the tenth position on lap 58. On lap 66, Hamlin made a pit stop, and Allmendinger did likewise two laps later. Juan Pablo Montoya and Kahne made their pit stops during the 69th lap. Edwards made a pit stop the following lap, giving the first position to Johnson. In turn, he made a pit stop on lap 71, handing the lead to Truex, Jr. On the following lap, Harvick moved to ninth, as Hamlin took over 16th. By lap 77, Truex, Jr. had a 1.2 second lead over Kahne.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Seven laps later, Aric Almirola moved into the fifth position, Harvick was moving toward Johnson in seventh. By the 93rd lap, Truex, Jr. increased his lead to 1.5 seconds. Five laps later, the third caution was given because of debris. Most of the front runners made pit stops during the caution, as Hamlin's team worked to repair his splitter. At the lap 102 restart, Truex, Jr. was first, ahead of Edwards and Kahne in second and third. During the pit stops Johnson fell to 10th.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
With assistance from Kyle Busch, Harvick took over fifth place on the following lap. Afterward, Edwards became the leader, after passing Truex, Jr. On lap 105, Jamie McMurray passed Truex, Jr. to move into second. David Ragan passed Kahne for the tenth position eleven laps later. Having led 86 of the first 124 laps, Edwards was finally passed on lap 125. Truex, Jr. moved into first position, and by the same lap Almirola had slipped to tenth. Marcos Ambrose spun sideways on lap 135, causing the fourth caution of the race. The front runners subsequently made pit stops.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
At the lap 139 restart, Truex, Jr. was the leader, ahead of Edwards, Harvick, and Johnson. One lap later, Montoya and Joey Logano collided, which resulted in Logano spinning sideways and sustaining major damage. At the lap 143 restart, Edwards was leader, after passing Truex, Jr. before the previous caution. On the following lap, Johnson fell to fifth, as Harvick moved to third. During lap 145, Kyle Busch took third away from Harvick. Two laps later, Truex, Jr. reclaimed the lead from Edwards.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
On lap 152, Johnson fell to seventh, after McMurray passed him. On the following lap, Ryan Newman moved to the sixth position, as McMurray moved to fifth. By the 158th lap, Truex, Jr. had a 1.2 second lead over Edwards. Six laps later, Kevin Conway spun sideways, prompting the sixth caution to be given. Most of the front runners made pit stop during the caution. At the lap 168 restart, Edwards was first, ahead of Kyle Busch, Harvick, and Truex, Jr. Two laps later, Hamlin moved to ninth, after passing Almirola.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
On lap 175, Tony Stewart moved to sixth, after starting the race in 31st. Five laps later, Harvick moved into the third position, as Truex, Jr. was moving toward Edwards. During the 183rd lap, Jeff Burton collided into the wall. On the following lap, Hamlin moved into sixth. On lap 186, the seventh caution was given because of debris. Most of the front runners made pit stops during the caution. Harvick became the leader under the caution, but was given a pit road speeding penalty, resulting in him starting in the rear of the grid.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Truex, Jr. led to the restart, as Edwards was second. The eighth caution was given two laps later because Dave Blaney collided into the wall. Harvick made pit stops during the caution, while the front runners stayed on the track. On lap 198, Edwards was first, ahead of Kenseth, Truex, Jr. and Stewart.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
Gordon's engine blew up on the 200th lap, prompting the ninth caution of the race. Edwards remained the leader on the restart, ahead of Kenseth, Kyle Busch, and Stewart. Harvick passed Hamlin for ninth place on lap 207, as Johnson and Kyle Busch were competing for the third position. Five laps later, Kyle Busch claimed third, as Johnson remained behind him. Johnson re-took the position on lap 213, after getting assistance from Stewart. Ten laps after the restart, Edwards had increased his lead to 1.29 seconds over second, as Brad Keselowski took the eighth position from Hamlin.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
During the 219th lap, Johnson moved into second, 2.58 seconds behind Edwards. Two laps later, Almirola and Biffle passed Hamlin, as Harvick moved to sixth. By the 230th lap, Edwards had over a two-second lead over Johnson. Nine laps later, Hamlin, Harvick, and Johnson made pit stops. During lap 240, Martin became the leader. On the following lap, Martin made a pit stop, giving the lead to Kahne.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
The tenth caution was given on lap 243 when Harvick and Kyle Busch collided, resulting in Busch spinning sideways and colliding into the wall. His car was engulfed in flames, but he was pulled from the car by NASCAR personnel. At the lap 250 restart, Edwards was the leader, ahead of Johnson, Kenseth, and Harvick. On the following lap, Harvick passed Kenseth for third, as Hamlin fell to 21st. By lap 254, Edwards had less than a one-second lead over Johnson, while Harvick was 2.59 seconds behind. Edwards continued to increase his lead, as Hamlin passed Martin for 15th.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Race
With seven laps remaining, Edwards had a 1.67 second lead over Johnson. As Edwards crossed the finish line to win the race, Johnson won his fifth consecutive championship. Harvick finished third, ahead of Almirola and Allmendinger in fourth and fifth. Kahne, Newman, Stewart, Kenseth and Biffle rounded out the top ten finishers in the race.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
"I can’t believe this. It’s unbelievable. You guys are the best. I can’t thank you enough."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
Jimmie Johnson, speaking on his team radio after winning the championship.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
Race winner Carl Edwards appeared in victory lane after his victory lap. He celebrated his second consecutive win, in front of a crowd of 67,000 people. After winning the race, he said "Why didn't you set the cars up like this before, Bob [Osbourne]? That was the best performance down the straightaway I've had in a long time."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
Afterward, Johnson began celebrating his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship. During the celebration, Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus commented, "I think finally, finally after pulling this off Jimmie will get the respect that he deserves. Knowing what we had to do — come down here and beat them — and we beat them." Hamlin, the points leader before the race, described his disappointment by saying, "I’m disappointed. Our car was lightning fast until that last wreck. When we hit the 16 (Biffle) that knocked the toe-in out. It wasn’t as fast after that.


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
It’s just circumstances but we had a great year. We won the most races (8) and we contended like we have never contended before but circumstances took us out of this one. I don’t think the 48 (Johnson) showed the strength this year like they did in the past and that opened the door for the rest of us." Harvick, who finished third in points, stated:


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
"We went down swinging and that is what we came here to do. Those guys outran us on that last restart there. All in all I’m proud of all my guys. We did everything we wanted to do today but win the race. This is a great spot to start building for consistent championship runs next year. We had a top three car but they got by us on the restarts. All in all, it was a good day. What can you do?"


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
During the post-race press conference, Harvick and Busch commented on their accident during the race. "Harvick pulled a slide job on my earlier in the day, I crossed over and passed him clean. My guys worked way too hard to be in this position to have a wrecked race car at the end of the year. It means so much to me to finish the year strong. I talked to him in the driver’s meeting but Kevin is such a two-faced guy it doesn’t really matter," Busch said. Afterward, Harvick said "Kyle raced me like a clown all day."


2010 Ford 400, Report, Post-race
In the Drivers' Championship, Johnson finished first with 6,622 points, 39 ahead of Hamlin in second. Harvick followed in third with 6,581 points. Edwards and Kenseth rounded out the first five positions with 6,393 and 6,294. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet won with 261 points, 44 ahead of Toyota and 85 ahead of Ford. Dodge finished fourth with 138 points. 5.605 million people watched the race on television. The race took three hours, nine minutes and fifty seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.608 seconds.


2010 Fordham Rams football team
The 2010 Fordham Rams football team represented Fordham University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rams were led by fifth year head coach Tom Masella and played their home games at Coffey Field. They are a member of the Patriot League.


2010 Fordham Rams football team
Fordham welcomed its first class of scholarship players since the school flirted with elevating to the Division I-AA level in the late 1970s. The Rams were made ineligible for the Patriot League championship because the league's bylaws prohibited the use of scholarship players.


2010 Fordham Rams football team
They finished the season 5–6, with a 3–3 record against Patriot League opponents. Because their games did not count in the league standings, the Patriot League record book credits them with a 0–0 record and places them last in the standings table.


2010 Formula 3 Brazil Open
The 2010 Formula 3 Brazil Open was the inaugural Formula 3 Brazil Open race held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace from January 21–24, 2010. There were private pre-event test sessions at Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet and Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna.


2010 Formula 3 Brazil Open
After a weekend of competition, British driver William Buller of the Hitech Racing Brazil outfit was crowned as the race champion, beating a host of Formula Three Sudamericana drivers, as well as André Negrão competing for the Cesario Fórmula team, who would drive in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship later in the 2010 season. After Buller qualified on pole position for the first race, he and Negrão took a victory apiece with Yann Cunha finishing third in both races. Negrão won the third race, the pre-final, before Buller claimed the main event by nearly nine seconds from Negrão. Cunha finished third ahead of Razia Sports' Bruno Andrade, and Negrão's team-mate Vittorio Ghirelli completed the top five placings. In Class B the Brazilian of the RC3 Bassani was the winner.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series
The 2010 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the eighth championship year of the Formula 3 Euro Series. It began on 10 April at Circuit Paul Ricard and finished on 17 October at Hockenheim after eighteen races at nine meetings. Grids for the 2010 season were substantially down on the previous season; with a maximum of sixteen drivers taking part in any of the season's meetings, after teams Manor Motorsport, SG Formula, Carlin Motorsport, HBR Motorsport and Kolles & Heinz Union all pulled out to focus on other series.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series
On track, series veteran Edoardo Mortara returned to the formulae after a season competing for Arden International, and with seven victories – all coming in the Saturday, higher points-awarding races – during the season, Mortara took the championship at the wheel of his Signature-run Dallara-Volkswagen, giving Volkswagen their first Euro Series championship. Second place was not resolved until the final round, as Mortara's teammate Marco Wittmann and ART Grand Prix's Valtteri Bottas battled over the placing.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series
Bottas had to win the final race to deny Wittmann of second place, but could only finish third and thus Wittmann completed the Signature 1–2, taking a single victory during the season at the first Hockenheim meeting. Bottas finished third for the second consecutive season, after his first two Euro Series wins – although he had previously won two successive Masters of Formula 3 events at Zandvoort, which is a non-championship race – at the Norisring and Oschersleben.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series
Bottas' teammate Alexander Sims also matched his final 2009 placing, taking fourth place with one victory once again, winning the opening sprint race of the season at Paul Ricard but took four further podium finishes to confirm fourth. Mücke Motorsport's Roberto Merhi completed the top five, taking his first Euro Series win in the first Hockenheim sprint race.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series
Other sprint race victories included four for the Motopark Academy squad, including three successive for top rookie finisher – seventh in the championship – António Félix da Costa who won at the Nürburgring, Zandvoort and Brands Hatch having started each from the front row due to the series' reverse-grid system for the top eight finishers from the previous day's race. Kevin Magnussen, on a one-off outing from his usual commitments in the German Formula Three championship, also claimed a sprint race victory for Motopark at Valencia. Daniel Juncadella won the final race of the season at Hockenheim, while Jim Pla, ART's third driver, took the other victory at Oschersleben. Signature's 1–2 championship finish allowed the team to claim their respective championship, while the Nations Cup was won by Italy through Mortara.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series, Prize tests
The top drivers in the championship standings at the end of the year were rewarded with a wide range of prize tests in various other racing categories. The top three drivers – Mortara, Wittmann and Bottas – all received a Formula Renault 3.5 Series test.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series, Prize tests
As well as that, Mortara received a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters test in the Audi A4, as he finished as top Volkswagen-engined driver as champion. Bottas, as top Mercedes-Benz driver received a test in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.


2010 Formula 3 Euro Series, Standings, Drivers
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2010 Formula 3 Sudamericana season
The 2010 Formula 3 Sudamericana season was the 24th Formula 3 Sudamericana season. It began on 16 May 2010, at Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Brasília and ended on 7 November in Interlagos.


2010 Formula 3 Sudamericana season
After 508 days, the driver Bruno Andrade of Cesario team was declared champion of the Formula Three Sudamericana in 2010, official result was decided in court on 30 March 2012 in Rio de Janeiro. Yann Cunha, was disqualified of the last race, after a collision with Andrade.


2010 Formula 3 Sudamericana season
Fernando Resende dominated the Sudamericana Light class, winning 14 of the season's 24 races en route to a championship-winning margin of 114 points. Resende avenged main class defeat for Cesário Fórmula, and himself took an overall podium in Caruaru when only two of the six main class starters finished the race. Resende's team-mate Ronaldo Freitas finished as runner-up, taking five class victories and two overall podiums. Third in class was Duarte Ferreira, who started the season with Dragão Motorsport before joining Cesário Fórmula at round three, and took the other five class victories along with a trio of overall third places at Velopark.


2010 Formula Abarth season
The 2010 Formula Abarth season was the sixth season of the former Formula Azzurra, and the first under its new guise of "Formula Abarth". It started on April 24 at Misano and finished on October 14 in Monza after fourteen races held at seven meetings.


2010 Formula Abarth season
Brandon Maïsano, part of the Ferrari Driver Academy scheme and driving for BVM – Target Racing, won the Alboreto Trophy as overall champion, taking four victories and three second places for a championship-winning margin of 22 points over runner-up Patric Niederhauser of the Jenzer Motorsport team. Niederhauser assumed second place in the standings after finishing the season strongly, taking seven top-five finishes in the final eight races including a victory at Varano and five third places.


2010 Formula Abarth season
JD Motorsport driver Raffaele Marciello finished the season in third place, taking victories at Misano and Varano, with winless Jordi Cunill (Prema Junior) and Maxim Zimin (Jenzer Motorsport) taking five second places and two third places between them. Despite only competing in three meetings, Cunill's team-mate Hannes van Asseldonk finished the season in sixth place, taking three main race victories and two fifth places. Other victories went to Jenzer's Zoël Amberg, Prema's Riccardo Agostini, JD's Víctor Guerin and National Trophy competitor Simone Iaquinta of ARM Competition.


2010 Formula Abarth season
Iaquinta won the National Trophy, having won nine of the fourteen races in the class, having taken eight top-ten overall finishes including his victory at Mugello. Having started the season at RP Motorsport, Stefano Colombo ended the season as Iaquinta's team-mate, and wrapped up second place with a class second behind Iaquinta at Monza, having taken two wins during the season at Misano and the only win at Magione, as the first race saw no finishers from the National Trophy. Federico Bonamico, who entered the season at round three, finished third for Scuderia Victoria World with one victory at Vallelunga. Simone Taloni took the other victory for Winner Motorsport at Imola. Prema Junior won the Teams' Championship by six points ahead of Jenzer Motorsport.


2010 Formula Abarth season, Teams and drivers
* Drivers who participated in the non-championship round at Spa-Francorchamps.


2010 Formula Abarth season, Race calendar and results
All rounds, excluding Magione (that was part of Italian GT Championship weekend) supported the Italian Formula Three Championship. In the view of a future international series, a non-championship round was held on the weekend of June 25–27 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, supporting International GT Open, Auto GP and European F3 Open rounds.


2010 Formula Abarth season, Standings, Teams' Standings
The person or company that entered the race application for a driver was considered Competitor P.G. or Team. In a such situation, for example, Matteo Davenia competed at Imola for Durango, physically driving a Cram Competition car. Only Competitors P.G. and Teams holding a valid ACI license for the current season were awarded points.


2010 Formula BMW Europe season
The 2010 Formula BMW Europe season was the third and final season of the Formula BMW Europe championship. The championship began on 8 May at Barcelona and finished on 12 September at Monza. The series was axed at the end of the season, in favour of a new Formula BMW Talent Cup starting in 2011.


2010 Formula BMW Europe season
The season was dominated by two drivers in their second season of competing in the championship, Robin Frijns of Josef Kaufmann Racing and Jack Harvey of Fortec Motorsport. Heading into the final round at Monza, Harvey held a seven-point lead over Frijns, but after taking pole position for both races, Harvey's chances took a hit after Javier Tarancón tried to outbrake him into the final corner and collided with him. Frijns won the race, and then a third place for him in the final race to Harvey's victory allowed the Kaufmann driver to claim the championship by eleven points, despite taking six wins to Harvey's seven, with both drivers taking thirteen podiums.


2010 Formula BMW Europe season
Third place was just as hotly contested, between Mücke Motorsport's Timmy Hansen and EuroInternational's Carlos Sainz Jr. which like the main championship battle, was not settled until the final rounds of the season. Hansen, the son of multiple championship-winning rallycross driver Kenneth, had finished thirteenth in the previous season due to his team being disqualified from two meetings due to a technical infringement, but improved in his second season in the class which included a victory at Hockenheim.


2010 Formula BMW Europe season
Sainz, the son of former double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz, finished thirteen points behind in fourth having taken a single victory during the season, winning at Silverstone. The season's other victory was taken by Tarancón at Spa-Francorchamps en route to a fifth place championship finish. The Teams' Championship was won by Josef Kaufmann Racing ahead of Fortec Motorsport.


2010 Formula BMW Europe season, Standings, Drivers
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2010 Formula BMW Pacific season
The 2010 Formula BMW Pacific season was the seventh and final Formula BMW Pacific season. The championship began on 3 April in Sepang and finished on 21 November in Macau after fifteen races held at six meetings. The series was axed at the end of the season, in favour of a new Formula BMW Talent Cup starting in 2011. Motorsport Asia will continue to run a rebranded JK Racing Asia Series from 2011, without BMW support.


2010 Formula BMW Pacific season
Singapore-licensed, British driver Richard Bradley won the championship for Eurasia Motorsport with two races in hand, after dominating for most of the season, winning seven races outright as well as an eighth by being the top finisher behind the guest drivers – Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat took five overall victories between them but were ineligible for championship points – run by the EuroInternational team. He also took three other podium finishes en route to a 76-point championship-winning margin over his nearest rival, Meritus driver Óscar Andrés Tunjo. Tunjo finished the season runner-up despite failing to finish any of the final two races, but E-Rain Racing's Jordan Oon or Mofaz Racing's Calvin Wong could not capitalise on Tunjo's misfortune.


2010 Formula BMW Pacific season
Tunjo, Oon and Wong all took overall victories in Singapore, Guangdong and Okayama respectively, but Tunjo's consistent finishing kept him ahead of Oon and Wong, who each added a class win to their overall wins. Bradley's team-mate Nabil Jeffri completed the top five in the championship, and their results along with Kotaro Sakurai and Duvashen Padayachee helped Eurasia claim the Teams' Championship. Other class victories were claimed by EuroInternational's Dustin Sofyan and James Birch of Motaworld Racing.


2010 Formula D season
The 2010 Formula D season (officially titled Formula Drift Pro Championship) was the seventh season for the Formula D series. The series began on April 10 on the streets of Long Beach and concluded on October 9 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale after seven events.


2010 Formula D season
With two victories at Long Beach and Infineon Raceway, Vaughn Gittin took his first Formula D title by 63.5 points, taking the first non-Nissan championship since 2006. Tanner Foust's Scion tC finished second in the championship, having taken victories at Evergreen Speedway and Irwindale, but Gittin's consistent finishing gave him the advantage over Foust. Ryan Tuerck finished third in the championship, despite not winning any of the seven events to be held. Daijiro Yoshihara finished fourth after taking successive victories at Road Atlanta and Wall Township Speedway. Darren McNamara completed the top five in the championship, while Tyler McQuarrie took the other event win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.


2010 Formula Lista Junior season
The 2010 Formula Lista Junior season was the eleventh Formula Lista Junior season. It began on 17 April at the Hockenheimring and ended on 26 September at Monza after twelve races held at six meetings.


2010 Formula Lista Junior season
With top five finishes in each of the twelve races including five victories, Jo Zeller Racing's Michael Lamotte finished the season as champion by 29 points, to give his team their first Formula Lista title. Second place in the championship was taken by Daltec Racing's Yanick Mettler, who won two races – at the first and last meetings of the season – at Hockenheim and Monza, as well as taken six other podium placings.


2010 Formula Lista Junior season
Seven podium finishes in the last eight races including victories at Most and the second Hockenheim meeting allowed Melville McKee of the Hope Pole Vision Racing team to finish the season in third position. Eric Neuber's CSR Motorsport car finished fourth in the championship, although winless Neuber was aided by ten top-five finishes, while Jimmy Antunes completed the top five, winning a race at Most. Christof von Grünigen was the only other winner during the season, sweeping the Nürburgring races in one of three appearances during the season. Daltec Racing's strength in numbers – running up to six cars at certain meetings – allowed them to pip Jo Zeller Racing, who ran only Lamotte during the season, to the Teams' Championship by seven points.


2010 Formula Nippon Championship
The 2010 Formula Nippon Championship was the 24th season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over eight races at seven rounds, beginning on 18 April at Suzuka and ending at the same venue on 7 November. A non-championship meeting at Fuji Speedway completed the season's racing a week later.


2010 Formula Nippon Championship
Having missed the 2009 season to focus on his Super GT commitments, João Paulo de Oliveira returned to the series and claimed his first championship title since winning the 2005 All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Team Impul's de Oliveira had held the championship lead by a point over TOM'S driver André Lotterer before the final double-header round at Suzuka, but de Oliveira's victory – his second victory after a win at Twin Ring Motegi – and fourth against Lotterer's second and a third, de Oliveira won the championship by 4.5 points. As well as his win at Autopolis, Lotterer won both non-championship races at Fuji.


2010 Formula Nippon Championship
Third place was disputed by reigning champion Loïc Duval, who had moved from Nakajima Racing to Docomo Team Dandelion Racing over the off-season, and his former Nakajima team-mate Takashi Kogure, which was resolved in favour of Duval by 1.5 points; both drivers' championship chances had been stunted by no points at Autopolis, as Duval failed to start and Kogure retired from the race. Duval did tie with de Oliveira for most victories during the season with two – Motegi and Suzuka – while Kogure won the season-opening race at Suzuka. De Oliveira's team-mate Kohei Hirate finished the season fifth with a victory at Fuji, ahead of the season's other race-winner Kazuya Oshima of the TOM's team.


2010 Formula Nippon Championship, Teams and drivers
* Drivers who participated in the non-championship round at Fuji Speedway.


2010 Formula Nippon Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' Championship
† Round with two races and points scoring system for each race. ‡ Non-championship round, with no points awarded.


2010 Formula One World Championship
The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a 1–2 finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. In doing so, Vettel became the youngest World Drivers' Champion in the 61-year history of the championship. Vettel's victory in the championship came after a dramatic season finale at Abu Dhabi where three other drivers could also have won the championship – Vettel's Red Bull Racing teammate Mark Webber, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.


2010 Formula One World Championship
This was Bridgestone's final season as the sole tyre supplier in Formula One as the company announced that it would not renew its contract at the end of the season. After several months of deliberation, Pirelli was chosen as the tyre supplier for the 2011 season at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva, in June 2010.


2010 Formula One World Championship
The points system was changed, with 25 points being awarded for first place, 18 for second, 15 for third, then 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 for fourth to tenth. The technical and sporting regulations applicable for the season were the subject of much debate.


2010 Formula One World Championship
Before the start of the season, 2009 Drivers' Champion Jenson Button joined McLaren, while the 2009 Constructors' Champion, Brawn GP, was bought by German motor vehicle manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and was renamed as Mercedes GP. The 2010 season saw the return of the most successful driver in Formula One history at that point, with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher coming out of retirement after a three-year absence since 2006.


2010 Formula One World Championship
The season's first race was held on 14 March in Bahrain and the season concluded on 14 November in the United Arab Emirates after 19 motor races held in 18 countries on five continents.


2010 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. With the withdrawal of BMW and Toyota from the sport, engine diversity in Formula One dropped to a 30-year low, with just four engine producers powering the entire grid (Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Cosworth), the lowest since 1980. Four new teams joined the grid: Mercedes, Lotus Racing, Virgin Racing and HRT. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.


2010 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers, New entries process
The FIA announced its intention to open up the grid, aiming for a total of 13 teams, and in July 2009 selected three new teams from 15 new applicants, as well as confirming the entry of all 10 existing teams. The existing F1 teams, under the FOTA organisation, are understood to have agreed a system of technical support to assist new teams. This compromise proposal would involve the supply of parts and design knowledge to the new entrants, but not full customer cars, in return for which the budget cap idea was dropped.


2010 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers, New entries process
The three teams on the entry list released in July 2009 included Campos Meta, a Spanish team led by former driver and GP2 team owner Adrian Campos and Madrid-based sports advertising agency Meta Image; Manor Grand Prix, an F3 team run by John Booth and designer Nick Wirth (who was formerly involved in the Simtek Ford team who competed in 1994 and 1995); and US F1, a team created by former designer Ken Anderson and journalist Peter Windsor.


2010 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers, New entries process
Following the withdrawal of BMW Sauber, Lotus Racing was accepted to return to the grid for the first time since the 1994 Australian Grand Prix. Manor became known as Virgin Racing after Richard Branson's Virgin Group purchased naming rights to the team, while Campos-Meta was reimagined as Hispania Racing after investor José Ramón Carabante purchased the team from Adrian Campos shortly before the first race of the season. USF1 officially withdrew from the championship in early March, following months of speculation and accusations from whistleblowers that the team had been crippled by mismanagement for months.