2010–11 Temple Owls men's basketball team, Season, Postseason
In the second half, there were ten lead changes, and neither team led by more than four points. Ramone Moore's 15 foot shot with 1:10 remaining pulled the Owls ahead 62–61. In Penn State's ensuing possession, Battle took the ball to the hoop but was blocked by Rahlir Jefferson, and Temple Owls took possession. Fernandez was fouled, and his pair of free throws with 28 seconds left extended the Owl lead to 64–61. With the clock at 12.2, Battle hit a three pointer from beyond the NBA line to tie the game at 64-64.


2010–11 Temple Owls men's basketball team, Season, Postseason
Fran Dunphy called a timeout, and Khalif Wyatt advised Dunphy to draw up a play for Fernandez. Fernandez was double-teamed and was forced to take an off-balance 18-footer. The ball fell through the hoop with four seconds remaining, and Temple Owls won 66–64. Fernandez and Moore finished with 23 points, a season high for Fernandez.


2010–11 Temple Owls men's basketball team, Season, Postseason
Temple Owls' season ended on March 19 with a 71–64 loss to second-seeded San Diego State in double overtime. The Aztecs took an 11-point lead in the first half, but Temple Owls recovered. Off a turnover, Lavoy Allen made a seven-footer to tie the game at 54 with 51 seconds left in the second half. Chase Tapley of San Diego State missed a baseline shot at the end of regulation, and the game went into overtime. At the beginning of the first overtime period, Juan Fernandez hit a three-pointer to give the Owls a 57–54 lead.


2010–11 Temple Owls men's basketball team, Season, Postseason
Malcolm Thomas responded with a three-point play to tie the game at 61. Thomas could not hit a shot and the game went into a second overtime. With SDSU maintaining a 69–64 lead, Aztec star Kawhi Leonard stole the ball from Khalif Wyatt and his uncontested dunk assured his team's victory. Ramone Moore had 17 points, and Allen had 12 points and 11 rebounds in his final game as a Temple Owl.


2010–11 Temple Owls men's basketball team, NBA Draft
In the 2011 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Lavoy Allen in the second round with the 50th pick on June 23. Allen became the 32nd Temple player to be drafted and the first since the New York Knicks selected Mardy Collins with the 29th pick in 2006. "I am very happy for him," said coach Fran Dunphy. "He accomplished so much as a college basketball player. It is a great reward to be drafted, and to go to the Sixers is icing on the cake."


2010–11 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team
The 2010–11 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was the sixth season for Bruce Pearl as the Volunteers' head coach. The team, a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, played its home games at Thompson-Boling Arena. They were the champions of the 2011 NIT Season Tip-Off. They finished the season 19–15, 8–8 in SEC play and lost in the quarterfinals of the 2011 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament to Florida. They received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where they lost in the second round to Michigan.


2010–11 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team
On March 21, 2011, Pearl was fired by the school for lying to NCAA investigators on recruiting violations.


2010–11 Terceira Divisão
The 2010–11 Terceira Divisão season was the 61st season of the competition and the 21st season of recognised fourth-tier football in Portugal.


2010–11 Terceira Divisão, Overview
The league was contested by 94 teams in 8 divisions of 10 to 12 teams.


2010–11 Tercera División
The 2010–11 Tercera División was the fourth tier of football in Spain. Play started on 27 August 2010 and the season ended on 26 June 2011 with the promotion play-off finals.


2010–11 Tercera División, Overview
There were 360 clubs competing in  Tercera División (Third division) in the 2010–11 season, divided into 18 regional groups, accommodating between 19 and 21 clubs.


2010–11 Tercera División, Overview
The following clubs finished as champions of their respective groups


2010–11 Tercera División, Overview
The 18 group champion clubs participated in the Group Winners Promotion Play-off and the losers from these 9 play-off ties then proceeded to the Non-champions Promotion Play-off with clubs finishing second third and fourth.


2010–11 Tercera División, Promotion Play-offs, Group Winners Promotion Play-off
Promoted to Segunda División B: Marino de Luanco, Villanovense, Valencia Mestalla, Burgos, Amorebieta, Toledo, Llagostera, Andorra and Linense.


2010–11 Tercera División, Promotion Play-offs, Non-champions Promotion Play-off
Promoted to Segunda División B:Reus Deportiu, Olímpic Xàtiva, Manacor, Sp. Villanueva, Arandina, S.S. Reyes, Sestao River, Gimn. Segoviana and La Roda.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season
The 2010–11 Tercera División season is the fourth-tier football league of Mexico. The tournament began on 20 August 2010 and finished on 28 May 2011.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Competition format
The Tercera División (Third Division) is divided into 14 groups. For the 2009/2010 season, the format of the tournament has been reorganized to a home and away format, which all teams will play in their respective group. The 14 groups consist of teams who are eligible to play in the liguilla de ascenso for one promotion spot, teams who are affiliated with teams in the Liga MX, Ascenso MX and Liga Premier, which are not eligible for promotion but will play that who the better filial team in an eight team filial playoff tournament for the entire season.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Competition format
The league format allows participating franchises to rent their place to another team, so some clubs compete with a different name than the one registered with the FMF.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 1
Group with 14 teams from Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 4
Group with 13 teams from Guerrero, Mexico City, Morelos, Oaxaca and Puebla.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 7
Group with 14 teams from Hidalgo, Mexico City and State of Mexico.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 8
Group with 14 teams from Greater Mexico City and Hidalgo.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 9
Group with 15 teams from Guanajuato, Guerrero, Michoacán and Querétaro.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 10
Group with 17 teams from Aguascalientes, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán and Zacatecas.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 13
Group with 18 teams from Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas.


2010–11 Tercera División de México season, Group 14, North
Group with 7 teams from Baja California, Baja California Sur and Sonora.


2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team
The 2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team represented Texas A&M University in the 2010-11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Mark Turgeon returned for his fourth year as coach of the Aggies after renegotiating his contract to stay in College Station. The team played its home games in Reed Arena and are members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 24–9, 12–6 in Big 12 play and lost in the semifinals of the 2011 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament to their rival Texas. They received an at-large berth in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where they lost in the second round to Florida State.


2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team, Previous season
The Aggies finished the previous year with a 24-10 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament–one of only two programs in the country to win a game in the tournament each of the previous five years.


2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball team, Preseason, Player departures
The Aggies will be without guard Donald Sloan and forward Bryan Davis, both of whom graduated as members of the winningest class in Texas A&M history, with 100 victories over four years. Guard Derrick Roland broke his tibia and fibula in a game on December 22, 2009 and missed the rest of the season. Although he used up his four years of NCAA athletic eligibility, he filed a medical redshirt appeal to get an extra year, but was denied.


2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team
The 2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team represented Texas A&M University in the 2010–2011 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Aggies were coached by Gary Blair. They won the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament, the first national title for the school in women's basketball.


2010–11 Texas A&M Aggies women's basketball team, 2011 NCAA Tournament
The team advanced through the tournament, defeating number one seeds Baylor and Stanford en route to the championship against Notre Dame. The Aggies won the game 76–70.


2010–11 Texas Brahmas season
The 2010–11 Texas Brahmas season was the 10th season of the Central Hockey League franchise in North Richland Hills, Texas.


2010–11 Texas Brahmas season, Regular season, Conference standings
x – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; z – Won regular season league titleAfter games of March 27, 2011.


2010–11 Texas Brahmas season, Transactions
The Brahmas have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.


2010–11 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team
The 2010–11 Texas Longhorns men's basketball team represented the University of Texas in the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Rick Barnes, who was in his 13th year. The team played its home games at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas and are members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 28–8, 13–3 in Big 12 play and lost in the championship game of the 2011 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament to Kansas. They received an at-large bid in the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament where they defeated Oakland in the second round before falling in the third round to Arizona.


2010–11 Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team
The 2010–11 Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team represented Texas Tech University in the 2010-11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Red Raiders' were led by Pat Knight in his third full season as the Red Raiders' thirteenth head coach. The team plays its home games at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas and are members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished with 13–19, 5–11 in Big 12 play. They were eliminated by Missouri in the first round. They were not invited to a postseason tournament.


2010–11 Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team, Preseason
The Red Raiders were picked to finish 7th in conference play.


2010–11 The Citadel Bulldogs basketball team
The 2010–11 The Citadel Bulldogs basketball team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2010-11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs were led by first year head coach Chuck Driesell and played their home games at McAlister Field House. They played as members of the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936.


2010–11 Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz season
The 2010-2011 Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz season is the club's 67th year of existence.


2010–11 Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz season, squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010–11 Tigres UANL season
The 2010–11 UANL season was the 64th professional season of Mexico's top-flight football league. The season is split into two tournaments—the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura—each with identical formats and each contested by the same eighteen teams. UANL will begin their season on July 24, 2010 against Querétaro, UANL will play their homes games on Saturdays at 7:00pm.


2010–11 Tigres UANL season, Torneo Apertura, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010–11 Tigres UANL season, Torneo Clausura, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010–11 Tonga Major League
The 2010-11 season of the Tonga Major League was the 32nd season of top flight association football competition in Tonga. Lotohaʻapai United won the championship for the twelfth time.


2010–11 Tonga Major League, Standings
NB: Apparently Kolofo'ou overtook Ha'amoko in the final unrecorded rounds to take one of the four knock out phase places.


2010–11 Tonga Major League, Knockout Phase, Semifinals
NB: Original semifinal match on April 2 was abandoned at 0-0 before extra time due to unknown reasons.


2010–11 Top 14 season
The 2010–11 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 13, 2010 and continued through April 2011. The regular season was followed by a three-round playoff starting in May that involved the top six teams, culminating in the final on June 4 at Stade de France. Toulouse won the Bouclier de Brennus for the 18th time, defeating Montpellier 15–10.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
This year's edition of the Top 14 welcomed Agen, winners of the 2010 title in the second-level Pro D2 and returning to the top flight three years after being relegated, and La Rochelle, victors in the 2009 promotion playoffs between the second- through fifth-placed teams. They took the place of Montauban and Albi, relegated at the end of the 2009–10 Top 14.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
Of the two promoted teams, Agen survived, while La Rochelle were tentatively relegated after finishing second-from-bottom. The other relegated side were Bourgoin, which had barely avoided bankruptcy in the previous season. Their financial struggles continued, and they were docked 5 points for their financial issues. The deduction was ultimately immaterial, as even without it they would have finished more than 20 points adrift of 13th-place La Rochelle.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
There was, however, a chance that La Rochelle would be spared the drop. During the season, Stade Français faced major financial issues, temporarily avoiding an administrative relegation in early June 2011 when president Max Guazzini announced a deal in which a Canadian foundation, working with former France national coach Bernard Laporte and an unnamed investor, would purchase a minority stake in the club. However, the planned infusion of €12 million did not materialize; Guazzini and Laporte sued the foundation, and three people had been arrested in connection with the deal as of June 24.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
On June 27, Guazzini met with the LNR's financial watchdog, DNACG, to discuss the club's situation. Reports indicated that if the club did not find €6.6 million by the time of the meeting, Stade would file for bankruptcy, which would result in an automatic relegation to the nominally amateur Fédérale 1. The French government had announced it would not bail out the club.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
The meeting ended with the announcement of a new deal by which Guazzini would sell a controlling stake in the club to a group of investors led by French technology executive Jean-Pierre Savare, keeping Stade in the Top 14 and confirming La Rochelle's relegation. As part of the deal, Guazzini stepped aside as club president in favor of Savare's son Thomas.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Season synopsis
The season saw signs of a changing of the guard in French rugby, especially in Paris. Racing Métro reasserted itself as a national power, finishing second on the season table. Bayonne went from being reprieved from relegation to playoff contenders, ultimately missing out in the final week of the season. Montpellier went from fighting for survival through much of 2009–10 to finalists this season, winning their quarterfinal and semifinal matches away by 1 point each, and leading Toulouse for most of the final before falling short. In the end, traditional power Toulouse lifted the Bouclier de Brennus.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Previous season
The 2009–10 season saw Clermont, in their 100th season, end decades of frustration by defeating Perpignan in the final to claim their first title, having lost in all 10 of their previous final appearances. At the other end of the table, Albi, which had been promoted to the Top 14 for 2009–10, finished bottom of the table and went down. Bayonne finished second-to-bottom but avoided relegation when it was revealed that 12th-placed Montauban were filing for bankruptcy and would therefore be automatically relegated. The other newly promoted team in 2009–10, Racing Métro, enjoyed a very successful season, finishing sixth, and qualified to the quarter-finals where they narrowly lost to eventual champions Clermont.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Competition format
Each club played every other club twice. The second half of the season was conducted in the same order as the first, with the club at home in the first half of the season away in the second. This season maintained the format introduced the previous season for the knockout stage: the top two teams qualified directly to the semifinals, while teams ranked from third to sixth qualified for a quarterfinal held at the home ground of the higher-ranked team. Semifinals are traditionally held at neutral sites; this season, both were held at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The final was held at Stade de France.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Competition format
Going into the season, the top six clubs are guaranteed of berths in the following season's Heineken Cup. The winners of the 2010–11 Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup are assured of berths in the 2011–12 Heineken Cup regardless of their league standing, as long as they avoid relegation. This means that if a club finishes in the top six and wins one of the European competitions, the seventh-place team will gain a Heineken Cup berth.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Competition format
However, if French clubs win both competitions, only five clubs will qualify for the 2011–12 Heineken Cup via their league position because France is capped at seven Heineken Cup places. France can also secure a seventh berth if clubs from England's Aviva Premiership, also capped at seven Heineken Cup places, win both Cup competitions, and the top club in the European Rugby Club Rankings among those not already qualified for the Heineken Cup is from the Top 14. Note, however, that if a winner of one of the European cups is relegated in the same season, LNR will not nominate it for European competition; its place will be taken by a current Top 14 side based on league position.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Competition format
The bottom two teams are provisionally relegated to Pro D2, with the possibility of one or both of the bottom teams to be reprieved if a team above them fails a postseason financial audit (mandatory for all clubs in the league).


2010–11 Top 14 season, Competition format
The LNR uses a slightly different bonus points system from that used in most other rugby competitions. It trialled a new system in 2007–08 explicitly designed to prevent a losing team from earning more than one bonus point in a match, a system that also made it impossible for either team to earn a bonus point in a drawn match. The LNR chose to continue with this system for subsequent seasons.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Salary cap
This season was the first in French rugby history to have a fixed salary cap. Previously, the only restrictions on team salaries were that wage bills were limited to 50% of turnover and that 10% of the salary budget had to be held in reserve. In December 2009, LNR announced that team payrolls would be limited to €8 million in 2010–11, and that the reserve requirement would be increased to 20%. The previous limitation of 50% of turnover remained in effect.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Salary cap
However, rugby journalist Ian Moriarty dismissed the cap as "little more than a bit of sleight of hand by the LNR to appease a sporting public", noting that the announced cap was 5% greater than the highest official wage bill in the 2009–10 Top 14, and translated to £7.1 million at the time of announcement, well above the then-current £4 million cap in the English Premiership. Moriarty also added that clubs would likely find ways around the cap, noting, "Last season [2008–09], it's rumoured that one big, overseas name was paid less than 40% of his total income as a salary."


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Domestic player rules
LNR also announced new rules requiring a minimum percentage of French players on team rosters. Under the new policy, "French players" are defined as those meeting the following criteria:


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Domestic player rules
The required percentage of French players was 40% this season, and will increase to 50% in 2011–12 and 60% in 2012–13.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Tax issues
A change in French tax law that took effect on 1 July 2010 raised concerns about the financial future of smaller clubs. The root of this issue is a French law known as DIC (Droit à l'Image Collectif), passed in 2004, that had allowed all French professional sports clubs to treat 30% of each player's salary as image rights. This portion of the salary was thus exempt from France's high employment and social insurance taxes, allowing French clubs to compete on a more equal financial footing with those in other European countries. However, the government announced in 2009 that it would suspend DIC.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Tax issues
The policy change was publicly criticized by wealthy club owners. Mourad Boudjellal of Toulon, who claimed that the change in the law would cost him more than €1 million in 2010–11, and Paul Goze of Perpignan took to the pitch before one of their matches to participate in a protest. Max Guazzini of Stade Français complained that the end of DIC would cost him about €800,000. However, the real concern in French rugby circles was for the potential blow to smaller clubs.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Tax issues
Bourgoin, who only avoided a bankruptcy filing in 2009 by players agreeing to large wage cuts, faced an effective increase of €400,000 in their 2010–11 expenses. Brive had already announced that they would slash their budget by 40% for the 2010–11 season, but with a 2009–10 wage bill of €7.2 million and several high-profile players locked into long-term contracts, the increased tax bill was speculated to be a serious problem for the club.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Financial troubles at Bourgoin
Bourgoin's financial struggles became a major issue during the early summer of 2010. The club had been called in for a financial review by LNR's financial watchdog DNACG late in the 2009–10 season, which they survived with no action taken at that time. However, after the fixture list for the 2010–11 season was released, DNACG denied Bourgoin a professional license. Bourgoin appealed this ruling, and also considered pursuing legal action against LNR.


2010–11 Top 14 season, New developments, Financial troubles at Bourgoin
Had Bourgoin been unsuccessful in their bid to stave off relegation, the choice of the team to replace them would not have been straightforward, as the most logical choice, Albi, who had been relegated after finishing at the bottom of the 2009–10 table, were facing their own financial problems and may not have had the resources for a Top 14 campaign. However, the FFR officially rescinded the DNACG's ruling on July 9, allowing Bourgoin to stay in the Top 14, thus also confirming Albi's place in Pro D2.


2010–11 Top 14 season, The teams
Note: Stade Francais have moved their home matches from their traditional home of Stade Jean-Bouin while a new 20,000-seat stadium is built on the site. The new Jean-Bouin is scheduled to open in 2013–14.


2010–11 Top 14 season, Results
As in recent seasons, several teams took occasional home matches to larger stadiums, either in their home city or a nearby location. In addition to Stade Français and Toulouse, whose use of larger venues is long-established, the following teams took home matches to other venues:


2010–11 Top 14 season, Results, Key
The score of the game is given by the middle (third and fourth) columns. The first and last columns indicate the number of tries scored by the home and the away team, respectively. A blue border indicates that the team has earned an attacking bonus point (i.e. has scored at least three more tries than its opponent), a yellow one that the team has earned a defensive bonus point (defeat by 7 points or less).


2010–11 Top 14 season, Results, Key
Within each round, matches are listed in order of kickoff time. Matches with the same kickoff time are listed in alphabetic order of the home team. A dark horizontal line separates matches held on different dates.


2010–11 Top League
The 2010–11 Top League was the eighth season of Japan's domestic rugby union competition, the Top League. The Sanyo Wild Knights defeated Suntory Sungoliath 28-23 in the final of the Microsoft Cup to claim thei first Top League title.


2010–11 Top League
The Top League is a semi-professional competition which is at the top of the national league system in Japan, with promotion and relegation between the next level down.


2010–11 Top League, Regular season, Final standings
•  The top 4 teams qualified to the title play-offs. • The top 4 teams also qualified for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. •  Teams 5 to 10 qualified to the wildcard play-offs for entry into the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship. •  Teams 11 and 12 went through to the promotion and relegation play-offs against regional challengers. •  Teams 13 and 14 were automatically relegated to the regional leagues for 2011–12.


2010–11 Top League, Regular season, Final standings
Four points for a win, two for a draw, one bonus point for four tries or more (BP1) and one bonus point for losing by seven or less (BP2). If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: •  Difference between points for and against •  Total number of points for •  Number of matches won •  Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams •  Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled


2010–11 Top League, Title play-offs
Top 4 sides of the regular season competed in the Microsoft Cup (2011) knock out tournament to fight for the Top League title. The top 4 teams of 2008–09 were Toshiba Brave Lupus, Sanyo Wild Knights, Toyota Verblitz and Suntory Sungoliath.


2010–11 Top League, Wildcard play-offs
The two second round winners qualified for the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.


2010–11 Top League, Wildcard play-offs, First round
The Top League teams ranked 7th and 10th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 5th in the second round. The Top League teams ranked 8th and 9th played-off for the right to meet the Top League team ranked 6th in the second round.


2010–11 Top League, Wildcard play-offs, Second round
The Top League team ranked 5th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 7th and 10th, and the Top League team ranked 6th played-off against the winner of the teams ranked 8th and 9th. The two winning second round teams advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.


2010–11 Top League, Wildcard play-offs, Second round
So Kobelco and NEC advanced to the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship.


2010–11 Top League, Top League Challenge Series
Honda Heat and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won promotion to the 2011–12 Top League via the 2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, while Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex progressed to the promotion play-offs.


2010–11 Top League, Promotion and relegation play-offs
Two promotion/relegation matches (Irekaesen) were played. The Top League teams ranked 12th and 11th played-off against the Challenge 1 teams ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, for the right to be included in the Top League for the following season.


2010–11 Top League, Promotion and relegation play-offs
So NTT and Yamaha remained in the Top League for the following season.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series
The 2010–11 Top League Challenge Series was the 2010–11 edition of the Top League Challenge Series, a second-tier rugby union competition in Japan, in which teams from regionalised leagues competed for promotion to the Top League for the 2011–12 season. The competition was contested from 19 December 2010 to 29 January 2011.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series
Honda Heat and NTT DoCoMo Red Hurricanes won promotion to the 2011–12 Top League, while Canon Eagles and Kyuden Voltex progressed to the promotion play-offs.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Competition rules and information
The top two teams from the regional Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League qualified to the Top League Challenge Series. The regional league winners participated in Challenge 1, while the runners-up participated in Challenge 2. The winner of Challenge 2 also progressed to a four-team Challenge 1.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Competition rules and information
The top two teams in Challenge 1 won automatic promotion to the 2011–12 Top League, while the third and fourth-placed teams qualified to the promotion play-offs.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification
The teams qualified to the Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 series through the 2010 regional leagues.


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top West League
The final standings for the 2010 Top West League were:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top East League
The final standings for the 2010 Top East League were:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top Kyūshū League
The final standings for the 2010 Top Kyūshū League were:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 1, Standings
The final standings for the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 1 were:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 1, Matches
The following matches were played in the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 1:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 2, Standings
The final standings for the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 2 were:


2010–11 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 2, Matches
The following matches were played in the 2010–11 Top League Challenge 2:


2010–11 Topklasse
The 2010–11 Topklasse season was the first and inaugural edition of the newly created Dutch third tier. A total 32 teams competed in the league, one of them coming from the fully professional 2009–10 Eerste Divisie, and the remaining 31 from the amateur 2009–10 Hoofdklasse. The competition was split into two leagues, a "Saturday" and a "Sunday" one, who differ by the day the related games are usually played.


2010–11 Topklasse
The league was originally expected to feature two relegations from Eerste Divisie; this was however made impossible by the exclusion of bankrupt-collapsed HFC Haarlem from professional football in January 2010. HFC Haarlem's place will be taken by another Hoofdklasse team which will be decided by play-offs between the losers of the initial play-off games in the Hoofdklasse.


2010–11 Topklasse
The only relegated team from Eerste Divisie, last-placed FC Oss, could however keep their place in the second tier, following the financial collapse of BV Veendam on May 2010; such event did not occur in the end, after it was confirmed that Veendam had won their appeal against bankruptcy in court later on June.


2010–11 Topklasse
The league was originally announced to receive national weekly media coverage on Dutch TV channel RTL 7, with a one-hour synthesis of the games on Saturdays and Sundays.


2010–11 Topklasse
After 11 matches, Dijkse Boys voluntarily withdrew from the Sunday Topklasse due to financial troubles. The club will be relegated from the Topklasse.


2010–11 Topklasse
Three clubs expressed interest in promotion, FC Oss from the Sunday league, and Rijnsburgse Boys and SV Spakenburg of the Saturday league. Ultimately, IJsselmeervogels were crowned Saturday league champions, whereas FC Oss won the Sunday league title; this meant that FC Oss were already promoted at the end of the regular season, since IJsselmeervogels opted not to apply for promotion to the Eerste Divisie instead.


2010–11 Topklasse, Composition of inaugural season
For the inaugural season of the Topklasse, 32 teams were picked, 31 of which coming from the Hoofdklasse, and one - FC Oss - being relegated from 2009–10 Eerste Divisie. Of the 31 teams from the Hoofdklasse, 24 were promoted automatically (the top four placed in the six round of the 2009–10 Hoofdklasse, whereas the remaining seven vacancies were filled through a playoff tournament.


2010–11 Topklasse, Composition of inaugural season, Playoff promotions
A post-season playoff tournament was held between May and June 2010 in order to fill seven more vacancies for the season. Such tournament was divided into two phases: the first phase featured six two-legged games, whose winners would have been promoted into the Topklasse.


2010–11 Topklasse, Composition of inaugural season, Playoff promotions
The six defeated teams from the first phase (three from Saturday Hoofdklasse, three from Sunday Hoofdklasse) then took part to a second phase, in which two rounds composed by three clubs each were organized: the two round winners will successively play against each other in a neutral field, one-legged final that will assign the remaining spot in the league.


2010–11 Topklasse, League tables, Championship play-offs
IJsselmeervogels has won the overall Topklasse title, but didn't apply for promotion to the Eerste Divisie. FC Oss was therefore promoted instead.


2010–11 Topklasse, League tables, Promotion/relegation play-offs
Montfoort and WKE promoted to 2011–12 Topklasse. CSV Apeldoorn relegated to 2011–12 Hoofdklasse. FC Hilversum were originally relegated, but later readmitted due to RBC Roosendaal's disbandment and consequent readmission of Almere City FC into the Eerste Divisie.


2010–11 Torino F.C. season
During the 2010–11 season, the Italian football club Torino F.C. was placed eighth in the Serie B league and reached the third round of the Coppa Italia competition.


2010–11 Torino F.C. season, Squad, First team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2010–11 Torneo Argentino A
The 2010–11 Argentine Torneo Argentino A was the sixteenth season of third division professional football in Argentina. A total of 24 teams competed; the champion was promoted to Primera B Nacional.


2010–11 Torneo Argentino A, Club information, Zone A (South)
1 Play their home games at Estadio José María Minella.


2010–11 Toronto CWHL season
The 2010–11 Toronto CWHL season was the first season for the team that became known as the Toronto Furies at the end of the season. The Canadian Women's Hockey League underwent a restructuring prior to the 2010–11 CWHL season that led to the folding of three teams and the creation of a new Toronto team. It also head held its first draft in 2010 for its three Greater Toronto Area teams, where the Toronto CWHL team protected former Mississauga Chiefs' players Jennifer Botterill and Sami Jo Small. The Toronto team then proceeded to pick many other former Chiefs' players to make up the majority of the new team.


2010–11 Toronto CWHL season, Regular season, Final Standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, Pts = Points.


2010–11 Toronto CWHL season, Postseason
March 27 Sunday: The final Game concluded with the Montreal Stars defeating Toronto  5 -0. Montreal got off to a  2 - 0 lead in the first period, The first goal was scored by Noémie Marin on a backhand from her off wing at the 14:47 minute mark, as she converted a pass from Caroline Ouellette. The second goal was scored at the 7:29 minute mark off a face off in the Toronto end. Toronto goalie Sami Jo Small played well in defeat  as Montreal controlled the game outshooting Toronto 51 to 26. Toronto did threaten offensively early in the game and could have turned the contest around but Montreal goalie, Kim St-Pierre,  came up with exceptional saves  to earn the shutout and ultimately crown Montreal Stars as the 2011 Clarkson Cup Champions.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season
The 2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 94th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 22, 1917, and its 84th season since adopting the Maple Leafs name in February 1927.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season
The Maple Leafs posted a regular season record of 37 wins, 34 losses and 11 overtime/shootout losses for 85 points, failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Draft
The Maple Leafs did not have a first round selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, having traded it to the Boston Bruins in the Phil Kessel deal. The selection ended up being the second overall pick, which the Bruins used to select Tyler Seguin. The Leafs made their first selection in the second round, having traded Jimmy Hayes to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 43rd overall pick, used on Bradley Ross of the Portland Winterhawks. After Ross, the Leafs made six other selections in the later rounds of the draft, including Greg McKegg, Sondre Olden, Petter Granberg, Daniel Brodin, Sam Carrick and Josh Nicholls.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Off-season
On June 14, 2010, general manager Brian Burke held a press conference to unveil the team's new sweaters for the 2010–11 season and also named Dion Phaneuf the 18th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Regular season
The Maple Leafs started the season significantly better than in 2009–10. On October 7, 2010, the Maple Leafs won their first home opener since October 7, 2000. On October 15, 2010, the Maple Leafs won their fourth consecutive game, beating the New York Rangers 4–3 on the road. The Leafs had started a regular season with four consecutive wins since the 1993–94 season, when they won their first 10 games.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Regular season
Over the 82-game regular season, the Leafs were shut-out a league-high 11 times, tied with the Washington Capitals.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Playoffs
The Maple Leafs attempted to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2003–04 season. They were officially eliminated from playoff contention on April 5, 2011, when the Buffalo Sabres won against the Tampa Bay Lightning 4–2, shortly before Toronto lost to the Washington Capitals in a shoot-out. The Leafs hold the longest active Stanley Cup Finals drought streak not having competed in the finals since the 1966–67 NHL season.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Playoffs
They also are tied with the Los Angeles Kings and the St. Louis Blues for the longest drought without a Stanley Cup until the Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012, followed by the Blues in 2019. In the 2009–10 season, the Chicago Blackhawks ended the longest drought without winning a Stanley Cup at that time, not having won the Stanley Cup since the 1960–61 season.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Standings
bold – qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; z – Placed first in conference (and division) AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Player statistics, Goaltenders
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Maple Leafs. Stats reflect time with Maple Leafs only. ‡Traded mid-season. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Transactions
The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.


2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Draft picks
Toronto's picks at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles.


2010–11 Toronto Raptors season
The 2010–11 Toronto Raptors season is the 16th season of the Toronto Raptors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season began after a much anticipated off-season as All-Star Chris Bosh became a free agent. Bosh didn't play for the Raptors for the first time since 2002-03, as he signed with the Miami Heat, teaming up with fellow NBA Superstars and 2003 draftees LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and beginning the Heat's Big 3 era. Bosh's departure caused the Raptors to start rebuilding and began the DeMar DeRozan era, which would last for the next 8 years. They finished with a 22-60 record missing the playoffs for a third-straight year.


2010–11 Toronto Raptors season, Summary, Pre-season
Before the 2010–11 season began, there was much anticipation around the league over the fates of an elite pack of free agents, featuring the likes of Raptors franchise player Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Amar'e Stoudemire. Bosh and James eventually chose to converge in Miami with Wade, and the sign and trade transaction that ensued resulted in the Raptors receiving two first-round draft picks and a trade exception from Miami. Prior to this, Toronto had drafted Ed Davis, also a left-handed power forward like Bosh, acquired Solomon Alabi from the Dallas Mavericks, and picked up Joey Dorsey.


2010–11 Toronto Raptors season, Summary, Pre-season
Amir Johnson was signed to a new deal, and Linas Kleiza was made an offer sheet that Denver later refused to match. After Bosh left, General Manager Bryan Colangelo sought to trade Reggie Evans, José Calderón—the last remaining Raptor from the pre-Colangelo days—and the disenchanted Hedo Türkoğlu for Tyson Chandler, Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa and Dwayne Jones. Barbosa was drafted by Colangelo when the latter was still with the Phoenix Suns, and Diaw played there during Colangelo's tenure too. However, the trade involving Chandler/Diaw/Evans/Calderón fell apart at the last minute when Chandler was traded to Dallas instead. A sign-and-trade involving Orlando's Matt Barnes was also in the works, but ran into last-minute difficulties as well. In the coaching department, P. J. Carlesimo joined the team of assistant coaches, while Marc Iavaroni left for the Los Angeles Clippers.


2010–11 Toronto Raptors season, Regular season
13 games into the season, the Raptors traded Jarrett Jack, David Andersen, and Marcus Banks to the New Orleans Hornets for Peja Stojaković and Jerryd Bayless. On 24 November, in a game against Boston Celtics, Reggie Evans—then Toronto's leading and the league's third-leading rebounder—was injured and ruled out for eight weeks. Toronto's leading scorer, Andrea Bargnani, had a spell on the sidelines not long after. Leading up to the All-Star break, Toronto went on a 13-game losing streak. The Raptors concluded the regular season with just 22 wins, and did not qualify for the 2011 NBA Playoffs.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season
The 2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season was Torquay United's 75th season in the Football League and their second consecutive season in League Two. The season runs from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Overview
Carrying on their good form from the end of the 2009–10 season, which saw Torquay set a new club record of 691 minutes without conceding a goal, the Gulls won their first four games of the new League Two campaign making it the best ever start to a season in the club's history. Unfortunately, Torquay were finally to concede a goal in the last of those four matches which meant the club record for clean sheets was now established at 998 minutes.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Overview
Despite making a strong start to the season and spending the whole of August at the top of the table, Torquay's form was soon to dip to the extent that they were only to win another three League matches by the end of the year. Nevertheless, some respite was offered by the cup competitions. Despite the Gulls experiencing early exits in the First Round of the Carling Cup (to Reading) and the Second Round of the Johnstone Paint's Trophy (losing to Swindon Town after first defeating Bournemouth), Torquay again made a strong showing in the FA Cup. Having beaten Mansfield Town, Walsall and Carlisle United in the earlier rounds, Torquay reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup where they were eventually beaten 1–0 in an ill-tempered tie with Conference side Crawley Town.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Overview
Following the defeat by Crawley, Torquay's League form finally began to improve and a run of just three defeats in their last 21 matches was enough to seal a place in the play-off semi-finals. This was despite of the sale of leading goalscorer Elliot Benyon to Swindon and the fact that the Gulls were docked one point by the Football League for fielding loan signing Jake Robinson while still ineligible to play. Torquay saw off their semi-final opponents Shrewsbury Town with relative ease to set up a League Two play-off final clash with Stevenage. However, the Gulls' season was ultimately to end in disappointment with a 1–0 defeat in the final and the departure of manager Paul Buckle for Bristol Rovers just two days afterwards.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, July
A busy pre-season fixture list saw Torquay take on a wide variety of teams and, apart from a 3–1 defeat to Championship side QPR (now with ex-Gulls manager Neil Warnock in charge),  Torquay managed to win all of their other pre-season matches. These included encouraging displays against another Championship side Bristol City as well as defeats of local rivals Plymouth Argyle and Yeovil Town, both of League One. Among the close season signings, perhaps the most impressive was the ex-Leicester City forward Billy Kee. The young striker scored a total of nine pre-season goals, including a hat trick against Weymouth on his debut and an astonishing four first half goals against Tiverton Town.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, July
Of the trialists on show during these games, midfielder Damon Lathrope (formerly of Norwich City) caught the eye of manager Paul Buckle and was offered a two-year deal. Meanwhile, a familiar face returned to Plainmoor in the form of striker Martin Gritton, who had enjoyed a successful spell with the Gulls between 2002 and 2004. Although still under contract to League Two rivals Chesterfield, Gritton was allowed to join Torquay on loan until January 2011.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, July
Another (more recent) fan favourite, Guy Branston also re-joined the Gulls, with the combative defender agreeing a permanent one-year deal having been on loan from Burton Albion for the latter half of the 2009–10 season. However, another Plainmoor hero, Wayne Carlisle, was deemed a free agent after the winger failed to agree a new contract due, in part, to his ongoing struggle with injury.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, August
Having finished last season with a club record of 691 minutes without conceding a goal, Torquay were keen to begin the new season in a similar fashion. The Gulls got off to a perfect start in their season opener with a 3–0 win against Northampton at Plainmoor, a win which put the Devon side at the top of the new League Two table. After consecutive 2–0 victories against Lincoln and Bradford, Torquay went into their match away to Port Vale aiming to become only the fourth team in Football League history to post eleven consecutive clean sheets.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, August
Unfortunately, Port Vale managed to breach the Torquay defence in the first half, although the Gulls still went on to win the game 2–1. Nevertheless, a new club record of 998 minutes without conceding a goal had been set, and victories in the first four games had ensured the best start to a season in Torquay's history. Those wins made sure that the Gulls spent the whole of August at the top of the League Two table.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, August
With the news that Wayne Carlisle had agreed to rejoin the Gulls, Torquay went into their Carling Cup First Round fixture against Reading full of confidence. The Torquay defence proved as resilient against the Championship side as it had been against every other team it had encountered since the beginning of April, and it was not until the very last minute of extra time that Royals striker Grzegorz Rasiak finally found a way past keeper Scott Bevan. A similar problem was encountered by Bournemouth in their Johnstone Paints Trophy First Round clash with the Gulls. However, this time, with the match going straight to penalties with a 0–0 stalemate after 90 minutes, the Cherries still could not find a way past Bevan and Torquay went on to win the tie 3–0 in the penalty shoot out.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, August
With the side currently enjoying so much success, it was perhaps no surprise that other clubs began to take an interest in the Torquay players. After turning down an offer from an unnamed League One side for defender Mark Ellis, manager Paul Buckle was relieved to reach the end of the summer transfer window without losing any of his squad.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, September
In recognition of Torquay's impressive start to the season, Paul Buckle was named League Two Manager of the Month for August. However, after a near perfect August, September was to prove something of a reality check for the Gulls. With Torquay's clean sheet record ending against Port Vale in their previous match, a 2–1 defeat away to Southend in their first game of the month put to an end a twelve match unbeaten run in the League which had stretched back to March.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, September
This was then followed up by two successive 0–0 draws at home to Accrington Stanley and away to Stevenage. Although these results seemed to suggest the Gulls had got their defensive house back in the order, they were now struggling to find the back of the net.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, September
With summer signings Billy Kee and Martin Gritton yet to register on the goalscorer charts, and Elliot Benyon out injured for the Accrington game and on the bench for most of the Stevenage match, the Gulls were starting to look a little light up front, despite the best efforts of the versatile Chris Zebroski who was being employed as both winger and striker.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, September
One new face who appeared during the month was full back Danny Senda. The ex-Millwall and Wycombe defender had impressed Paul Buckle after recently playing in reserve team games against Exeter City and Forest Green. Unfortunately, his debut match, at home to Macclesfield, coincided with a further downturn in the Gulls fortunes when they were beaten 3–1. A chance to make amends came three days later with another home match, this time against former Conference rivals Aldershot. However, with midfielder Damon Lathrope leaving the field injured after only 14 minutes on his first League start, Torquay could not find a way past a resolute Shots defence and were eventually sunk by a Marvin Morgan goal in the 86th minute.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, September
With just 2 points taken from a possible 15, Torquay were fortunate to still find themselves in the play-off positions at the end of September having begun the month at the top of the table.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, October
After being informed by chairman Simon Baker that the club's playing budget had been cut, Paul Buckle now found his options limited as he attempted to revive Torquay's flagging league campaign. In his efforts to "shuffle the pack", Buckle would now have to delve into the loan market and also make some tough decisions with the current squad members. Most significantly, after first being dropped for September's match against Aldershot and then again for the trip to Crewe Alexandra, club captain Nicky Wroe was placed on the transfer list. It was also made known that the club would be open to offers for defender Kieran Charnock who had struggled to break up the central defensive partnership forged by Mark Ellis and Guy Branston.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, October
With Wroe and Charnock on the transfer list, new faces began to appear with the aim of freshening up the side. First through the door was Joe Oastler on loan from Queens Park Rangers. Capable of playing as both a midfielder and defender, Oastler joined Torquay on a one-month deal. Later in the month, two more loan signings arrived at Plainmoor within twenty four hours of each other. Winger Romone Rose became the second loanee from Neil Warnock's QPR, signing a three-month deal, while the young Wolves striker Ashley Hemmings joined Torquay, like Oastler, on a one-month contract.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, October
On the pitch, Torquay struggled to get back to the early season form which saw them spend the whole of August at the top of the League Two table. Although a creditable 1–1 draw away to in-form Shrewsbury Town seemed to point to an improvement in the team's performances, the Gulls were then to crash out three days later to Swindon Town in the Second Round of the Johnstone Paints Trophy (although, the fact that several of Torquay's first choice regulars were rested for the match indicated that the League Trophy was not high on Paul Buckle's list of priorities).


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, October
Astonishingly, Torquay then managed to scrape only a 3–3 draw away to Crewe and then lose 4–3 at home to Bury, despite going 2–0 ahead in both matches. However, a corner of sorts appeared to have been turned in their match away to Gillingham when, at 1–0 down with 94 minutes of the match played and with newly installed club captain Lee Mansell sent off four minutes previously, a Kevin Nicholson free kick somehow managed to sneak past Gills keeper Alan Julian and salvage a 1–1 draw with the final kick of the game.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, October
The Gulls took their good fortune with them into their final game of the month at home to Morecambe, where they ran out 3–1 winners and achieved only their first victory in ten league games. With an upturn in their on-field performances, Torquay were now able to look forward to November with renewed optimism.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
The revival which seemed to have been sparked by Kevin Nicholson's last gasp equaliser at Gillingham began to gather momentum during November. In contrast to the previous season, the Gulls were quickly developing into a formidable outfit on the road and this proved crucial during a month in which three of Torquay's four League Two fixtures were away from Plainmoor. After a convincing 2–0 victory over former Conference rivals Oxford United, the Gulls were disappointed to only pick up one point in a 1–1 draw away to Stockport.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
However, the performance of the month was probably the impressive 3–1 win over promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park, a result which saw Torquay move above the Chairboys into sixth place in the League Two table. Conversely, the only home league fixture of the month resulted in a lacklustre 1–1 draw with relegation-threatened Barnet.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
As per tradition, November saw the entry into the FA Cup of the League One and Two teams. The first two rounds were played during this month and Torquay found themselves involved in both after first easing past Conference side Mansfield Town and then seeing off Walsall of League One. The two 1–0 victories ensured the Gulls participation in the Third Round for the fifth time in six seasons. The Third Round draw saw Torquay receive a home fixture against another League One side Carlisle United. While possibly not the money-spinning draw that either team was hoping for, it was at least a game which, on recent form, gave the Gulls a very realistic chance of progressing to the FA Cup Fourth Round.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
No new additions were made to the squad during the month, although the loan deal for Joe Oastler was extended until January while Wolves agreed to allow Ashley Hemmings to extend his stay at Plainmoor. With the loan window about to close, leading striker Elliot Benyon appeared to be on the verge of leaving Torquay, with Swindon, Dagenham & Redbridge and Southend among the clubs reported to have been interested in making a move for the young forward.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
However, Gulls fans were relieved when the window closed with Benyon still part of the United squad - at least until the January transfer window. Of the two players placed on the transfer list in October, Kieran Charnock moved on loan to Morecambe, with a view to making the deal a permanent one in January. However, former captain Nicky Wroe now seemed happy to remain at Plainmoor after Paul Buckle revealed the midfielder had rejected a move to Aldershot.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, November
In recognition of the Gulls remaining unbeaten in all competitions throughout November, Paul Buckle was once again short listed for the League Two Manager of the Month award.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, December
With November's League Two Manager of the Month award going to Port Vale's Micky Adams, Gulls fans would have been relieved to have avoided the 'curse' often associated with the award, and which certainly appeared to affect Torquay's form after Paul Buckle won the award for August. However, the December curse seemed to have been applied to the entire Football League, with a large number of matches being postponed due to the freezing weather conditions which hit the UK throughout most of the month. As a result, the Gulls only managed to fulfil one of five fixtures scheduled for the final month of 2010, that being a disappointing 1–0 defeat away to league leaders Chesterfield.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, December
Off the field, December saw the departure of two players. Danny Senda left the Gulls after making only three appearances since joining in September, while Wayne Carlisle was released after making 76 appearances for Torquay and being a key member of the squad which gained promotion from the Conference. Of the recent loan signings, Romone Rose was allowed to return to QPR while Ashley Hemmings had his loan deal from Wolves extended until the end of the season.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, December
There was a sense that Paul Buckle was clearing the decks in time for the January transfer window. However, whether he himself would still be at Torquay by the end of January was in serious doubt as he was being heavily tipped to take over from the recently sacked Paul Trollope at League One side Bristol Rovers.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
Another year, another transfer window and another FA Cup run for Torquay United. Despite being the favourite with many bookmakers to take over at Bristol Rovers, Paul Buckle was left to focus on his job at Plainmoor after Dave Penney was installed as the new manager at the Memorial Stadium.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
As is often the case, most of the transfer activity was left until the last day of January, although two predictable changes did take place early in the month with Kieran Charnock making his loan move to Morecambe a permanent one and Martin Gritton returning to parent club Chesterfield after the striker had failed to make an impression during his second spell at the club. Meanwhile, Joe Oastler had his loan from QPR extended until the end of the season.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
With weather conditions more favourable than they had been throughout December, Torquay were keen to get themselves back into contention for a play-off spot. However, two draws, two defeats and only one win saw the side slip from 7th position at the end of 2010 to a disappointing 13th place in the League Two table by the end of January.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
With their unprecedented clean sheet record of earlier in the season a dim and distant memory, the Gulls were now too often succumbing to late goals with a total of seven points being dropped in the dying moments of the games against Oxford, Morecambe and Gillingham. The most encouraging display of the month was reserved for the fewer than 2,000 spectators who turned out at Plainmoor for the 2–1 win over in-form Crewe Alexandra with Torquay claiming their first home victory in the league since October.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
Despite their indifferent league form, the FA Cup was once again providing a welcome distraction with Torquay being involved in the Third Round for the third consecutive season. One goal from Eunan O'Kane was to prove enough to edge past Carlisle in this season's Third Round tie and anticipation was high yet again for the following day's Fourth Round draw.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
Unfortunately, despite being the first ball pulled out of the drum, the Gulls yet again missed out on the chance of meeting one of the so-called "big boys", instead having to entertain the winners of the yet to be played match between Crawley Town (the only non-league team left in the competition) and Derby County of the Championship. After having beaten League One side Swindon in the Second Round, Crawley pulled off another shock win over the Rams to set up a reunion of the two former Conference rivals. Although, many Gulls fans were disappointed by the draw, there was now a fantastic opportunity for Torquay to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
With over 5,000 supporters struggling to get through the Plainmoor turnstiles for the match with Crawley, there was a fifteen-minute delay to the kick off to what turned out to be an ill-tempered Fourth Round tie. Torquay found it hard to get a foothold in the first half of the game and eventually fell behind in the 39th minute to a Matt Tubbs strike. However, worse was to follow in the second period when Chris Zebroski was sent off in the 61st minute for a second bookable offence after a handball in the six yard box.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
However, when keeper Scott Bevan managed to save the resulting penalty from Tubbs, the Gulls spirits were raised again until another penalty was awarded to Crawley just minutes later. Astonishingly, Bevan pulled off his second penalty save of the match, this time from Craig McAllister, to give Torquay another lifeline. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalise on Bevan's heroics and, despite the sending off of Dean Howell for Crawley in the 83rd minute, the score remained 1–0 until the final whistle.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
In a match which saw seven bookings in addition to the two dismissals, many Torquay supporters were angered by the tactics employed by Crawley manager Steve Evans (two of Crawley's yellow cards were for time wasting) and their misery was compounded the following day when Evans’ men were rewarded with a trip to Old Trafford to play Manchester United in the Fifth Round draw.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
Just two days after the huge disappointment of the Crawley game, the last day of the January transfer window finally saw the departure of top striker Elliot Benyon to Swindon. Benyon had been one of Paul Buckle's first signings when he took over at Plainmoor in 2007, and had now developed into Torquay's main goal threat. As such he had been tracked by several clubs over a number of months and his eventual move had been seen as inevitable by the majority of Gulls fans.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, January
The last day of the window also saw the transfer of Nicky Wroe to Shrewsbury and the cancellation of Ashley Hemmings’ loan deal with Wolves. In their place came striker Jake Robinson and midfielder Craig Stanley on loan deals from Shrewsbury and Morecambe respectively. With a new-look squad and just the league to concentrate on, Torquay had to now put an ultimately disheartening month behind them and look to the future.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, February
When new loan signing Jake Robinson scored after ten minutes of his debut against Hereford on the first day of the month, Torquay United looked set to put the misery of their FA Cup exit behind them. However, even before the game had reached half time, it was made known to Paul Buckle that Robinson's registration had not been completed before the required deadline and was actually ineligible to play in the fixture.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, February
With the possibility of any points won from the match being deducted by the FA, Buckle was unable to prevent the demoralised Gulls from slipping to a 3–1 defeat. Incredibly, it emerged days later that Hereford had also fielded an ineligible player in the same game, with midfielder Rob Purdie’s registration also not being completed in time for the match.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, February
With Torquay now having to wait for a decision on any punishment from the FA, the club had to make the most of a busy February schedule which included a further six League Two encounters following the disastrous Hereford game. The first three were against teams battling relegation and the Gulls took full advantage, grabbing maximum points against struggling Stockport, Barnet and Burton Albion.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, February
These matches saw Paul Buckle begin to experiment with his squad selection with second choice keeper Danny Potter being brought in to give Scott Bevan a well-deserved break and left back Lathaniel Rowe-Turner deputising for the ever-present Kevin Nicholson. Both players rewarded the manager's faith with Potter keeping clean sheets in his first three games and Rowe-Turner scoring on his first league start of the season against Barnet. With loan players Jake Robinson and Craig Stanley fitting seamlessly into the new-look squad, Torquay were further enhanced by another loan signing in Northampton midfielder Ryan Gilligan.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, February
Although the next three matches against Southend, Cheltenham and Accrington Stanley only secured a total of two points, the Gulls could be relatively satisfied with the returns of a busy month which left them just four points outside of the play-offs and with games in hand on most of the teams around them.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
In a month with a punishing eight matches to be played, Torquay had to be at full strength if they were to make any kind of push for promotion. With that in mind, Paul Buckle once again dipped into the loan market. Although current loanee Ryan Gilligan unfortunately had to make an early return to Northampton following a family bereavement, Buckle was able to make an immediate replacement in the form of young Derby midfielder Ben Pringle.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
Shortly afterwards, Plainmoor also saw the arrival of two loan strikers in Ronan Murray from Ipswich Town and Gavin Tomlin of Dagenham & Redbridge. With Buckle eventually negotiating for both forwards to remain with Torquay until the end of the season, the Gulls now had a variety of attacking options with the likes of Jake Robinson, Chris Zebroski, Eunan O’Kane and Billy Kee already causing problems to opposition defences.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
Gavin Tomlin was to make an instant impact, scoring just five minutes into his debut in the home match against Shrewsbury. It was a game in which the Gulls went on to win 5–0, a particularly impressive performance considering the Shrews were currently 4th in the table and had spent the majority of the season in the play-off positions. Even that result was arguably bettered by Torquay's trip to Gigg Lane three days later where they beat 2nd placed Bury 2–1 after coming back from a goal down.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
Earlier in the month, Torquay had already claimed four points from two other play-off challengers, grabbing a 1–1 draw with Rotherham and a 2–0 victory against Stevenage. In fact, Torquay seemed to be experiencing more problems against teams lower down in the division; the only defeat of the month came away to Aldershot and the Gulls only just managed to sneak a point with a 91st minute Guy Branston header to secure a 3–3 draw away at Macclesfield.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
Shortly before the home game against Cheltenham, Ben Pringle had made it known to Paul Buckle that he wanted to go back to Derby to fight for a first team place there. Despite some encouraging performances during his short spell at Plainmoor, Buckle allowed the midfielder to make an immediate return to the Championship club. That match against Cheltenham resulted in a relatively comfortable three points for Torquay and the Gulls went into their final fixture of the month, a Friday night trip to Northampton, full of confidence.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
However, traffic problems on the M5 motorway resulted in the team arriving two hours late at the Sixfields Stadium. Even with the kick off being delayed by half an hour, the Gulls had little time to prepare for the match once they had arrived. Nevertheless, with the score at 1–1 going into injury time, Billy Kee seemed to have snatched a late win for Torquay with a stunning strike in the 92nd minute. However, a controversial 96th minute free kick for the Cobblers resulted in a goal from Guillem Bauzà and the Gulls had to settle for a 2–2 draw.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, March
That draw left Torquay in 4th place in the League Two table, although with most other teams playing on the following day and a few more midweek matches at the end of the month, the Gulls eventually ended March in 8th position, one point outside the play-off zone and just four points away from automatic promotion with seven games left to play. With four of those matches against teams in or around the play-offs, Torquay Utd went into April with their destiny very much in their own hands.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
The saga regarding the fielding of the unregistered Jake Robinson in the February match against Hereford was finally resolved with Torquay receiving a one-point deduction and a £10,000 fine. With Hereford playing the equally ineligible Rob Purdie in the same match, they were also fined £10,000 and deducted the three points they had gained from the match. While it could be argued that, having lost a point they had never gained in the first place, the Gulls were more harshly treated than the Bulls, Torquay decided not to appeal against the Football League's ruling.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
All of the off-field politics meant that Torquay had to make the most of their remaining games in order to make a push for promotion to League One. The month got off to a great start with a 2–0 home win against Lincoln, followed up by an impressive 3–0 away victory over sleeping giants Bradford City. However, despite having not participated in a goalless draw since September's trip to Stevenage, the Gulls managed to produce two consecutive 0–0 results at home against Port Vale and Wycombe.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
The latter game was particularly frustrating for Torquay as only some wayward finishing and the heroics of Wycombe keeper Nikki Bull kept the Gulls from gaining all three points. That match effectively ended Torquay's hopes of clinching an automatic promotion place and was also Ronan Murray's final game for the club as he was recalled by Ipswich a few days later.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
Easter Monday's trip to Burton saw Torquay find their shooting boots again with Chris Zebroski and Gavin Tomlin putting the Gulls 2–0 up within the first 15 minutes. However, not for the first time this season, Torquay managed to surrender a two-goal lead and had to rely on a stunning 78th-minute strike from Billy Kee to rescue a point in a thrilling 3–3 draw. This was a result which left Torquay just outside the play-offs with two games remaining. The penultimate game of the league campaign was a Friday night encounter at home to champions-elect Chesterfield.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
Over 5,000 supporters witnessed yet another 0–0 draw which was also Craig Stanley's last game before having to return to parent club Morecambe. Stanley was perhaps one of Paul Buckle's most successful loan signings and many Gulls fans were hopeful that the midfielder would make a return to Plainmoor next season. The significance of the Chesterfield draw was only fully felt the following day with Gillingham and Stevenage both losing their matches.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
This meant all three teams would go into the final day of the season tied on 68 points with just two play-off spots remaining, although Torquay's superior goal difference left them in pole position. The Gulls now had to travel to Rotherham knowing they only had to equal or better the Gillingham and Stevenage results in order to guarantee a place in the play-offs.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, April
As had so often been the case throughout the years, Torquay's destiny would ultimately be decided on the final day of the season.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
As the last day of the regular season arrived, and with Torquay, Stevenage and Gillingham separated only by goal difference, it was vital for the Gulls to do everything they could in their match with Rotherham to ensure they secured one of the two remaining play-off berths. However, it was to prove a challenging afternoon at the Don Valley Stadium.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
Nerves began to jangle as soon as Ryan Taylor put the Millers 1–0 ahead after just ten minutes and, despite Chris Zebroski equalising in the 31st minute, Rotherham restored their lead just two minutes later thanks to a Danny Harrison strike. Meanwhile, with goals going in at the Stevenage and Gillingham games, Torquay found themselves in 6th, 7th and 8th position at various times during the afternoon and, when Oliver Banks put Rotherham 3–1 ahead in the 80th minute, they were now relying on scores from elsewhere if they were to book a place in the play-offs.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
While Stevenage secured their place with an enthralling 3–3 draw against Bury, the Gulls were ultimately indebted to Chesterfield who, by beating Gillingham 3–1, not only clinched the League Two title for themselves, but also made sure that Torquay would finish the season in the final play-off spot, ahead of the unfortunate Gills on goal difference alone.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
Torquay's play-off semi-final opponents turned out to be Shrewsbury who missed out on automatic promotion by just one point. With the first leg at Plainmoor in front of the Sky Sports cameras, the Shrews were no doubt mindful of the 5–0 thrashing they had received at the Gulls’ home ground just two months previously. The fact that two of those goals came from Jake Robinson (on loan from Shrewsbury) added extra spice to the tie, particularly as there was no clause preventing Robinson from playing against his parent club in the play-offs.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
Despite Robinson not getting on the score sheet, Torquay produced an assured performance which saw them comfortably win the first leg 2–0 thanks to goals from Chris Zebroski and Eunan O’Kane. The Gulls had to make sure they finished off the job in the return leg and that is exactly what they did with a 0–0 draw at the New Meadow. The draw meant that Torquay United had done enough to ensure their place in the play-off final where the opponents would be their old Conference rivals Stevenage, who secured their own spot thanks to a 3–0 aggregate win over Accrington Stanley.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
With the Champions League Final scheduled to take place at Wembley Stadium on the same weekend as the League play-off finals, Torquay instead had to make the trip to Old Trafford for their showdown with Stevenage. The omens were not good for the Gulls when it was announced that the referee for the final would be Darren Deadman. This was the same man who had overseen the disastrous FA Cup Fourth Round match with Crawley Town, the team who, ironically, had prevented Torquay from making an earlier trip to Old Trafford.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
Like the Crawley match, the kick off was delayed by fifteen minutes (due to traffic congestion on the M6 motorway) and like the Crawley match, Torquay fell behind to a goal late in the first half, this time a 41st-minute strike from Stevenage midfielder John Mousinho. And just like the Crawley match, the Gulls failed to find a reply which meant that Mousinho's goal was enough to see the Hertfordshire side promoted to League One while ensuring Torquay would remain in League Two for another season.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
Just two days after the play-off defeat, it was announced, following much speculation, that Paul Buckle would be leaving Torquay after four seasons to become the new manager of Bristol Rovers. It was a position he had been linked with since the previous December after the sacking of Paul Trollope and, when his successor Dave Penney was also sacked after just two months, there was a certain inevitability to Buckle's eventual move to the Memorial Stadium.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, May
With Buckle also taking first team coach Shaun North with him to Rovers, there was now a huge rebuilding job to be done at Plainmoor. With uncertainty hanging over those players whose contracts were soon to expire as well as the loan players which had performed admirably over the final few months of the season, it was looking like the end of an era for Torquay United and the beginning of a new one.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, June
With the original shortlist of candidates containing names such as Paul Trollope and former Torquay favourites Alex Russell and Chris Hargreaves, speculation was growing amongst Gulls fans as to who would replace Paul Buckle. One name which had not been mentioned in the local press was Martin Ling, so it was something of a surprise when the former Leyton Orient and Cambridge United boss was announced as the new man in charge at Plainmoor.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, June
Top of Ling's list of priorities was to start building a new team. With players reaching the end of their contracts and loan players returning to their parent clubs, the squad was now starting to look rather threadbare. Several key players who had got Torquay to the play-off final would definitely not be at the club for the new season. Player of the year, Guy Branston made a move to Bradford City while Scott Bevan decided to join Paul Buckle at Bristol Rovers.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, June
Torquay fans were also disappointed to see midfielder Craig Stanley, who had been particularly impressive for the Gulls on his loan spell from Morecambe, also follow Buckle to the Memorial Stadium. Meanwhile, another loan player who would not be returning to Plainmoor was Jake Robinson who agreed to join Northampton Town instead.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, June
The first new face at Plainmoor was Shaun Taylor, who was appointed as Ling's assistant manager. Taylor was previously the youth coach at Exeter City and was also brother to former Torquay defender Craig Taylor. With Taylor on board, Ling now looked to bring new players to Torquay. Firstly, Joe Oastler signed a permanent two-year deal with Torquay after being released by QPR, while Danny Stevens also agreed in principle to renew his contract. Another familiar face who returned to Torquay was Chris McPhee. He had played for the Gulls during their disastrous 2006–07 season and was looking to make amends on his return to the club. Joining on the same day as McPhee was Daniel Leadbitter, a promising young defender who had just been released by Newcastle United.


2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season, Season diary, June
While the new signings did much to assure Torquay's fans, more disappointment came with the news that top goalscorer Chris Zebroski had handed in a transfer request. With still no goalkeeper and pre-season friendlies just around the corner, it was clear that Martin Ling and Torquay United still had much work to do before the arrival of the new season.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al
The 2010–11 Toto Cup Al was the twenty-nine season of the third most important football tournament in Israel since its introduction and seventh under the current format. It was held in two stages. First, sixteen Premier League teams were divided into four groups. The winners and runners-up, were advanced to the Quarterfinals. Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final were held as one-legged matches, with the Final played at the Ramat Gan Stadium.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al
The defending champions were Beitar Jerusalem, who made it their second Toto Cup title overall.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al
On 19 January 2011, Ironi Kiryat Shmona won the 2010–11 Toto Cup Al, a year after winning the Leumit version of the cup, it was their first Toto Cup Al title overall.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al, Group stage
The matches were being played from 31 July to 10 November 2010.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al, Elimination rounds, Quarterfinals
The matches were played from December 28 to 30, 2010.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al, Elimination rounds, Quarterfinals
2 Maccabi Tel Aviv hosted the match against Maccabi Haifa without a crowd of both sides due to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans hooliganism.


2010–11 Toto Cup Al, Elimination rounds, Semifinals
The draw for the Semifinals took place on 30 December 2010, with matches played a week later on January 5, 2011.


2010–11 Toto Cup Leumit
The 2010–11 Toto Cup Leumit was the twenty-nine season of the third most important football tournament in Israel since its introduction and seventh under the current format. It held in two stages. First, sixteen Liga Leumit teams were divided into four groups. The winners and runners-up advanced to the Quarterfinals. Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals were held as one-legged matches, with the Final played at the Ramat Gan Stadium.


2010–11 Toto Cup Leumit
The defending champions were Ironi Kiryat Shmona, making it their second Toto Cup title overall, due to the promotion in the last season the club could not defend their title.


2010–11 Toto Cup Leumit
It won on 15 December 2010 by Ironi Ramat HaSharon.


2010–11 Toto Cup Leumit, Group stage
The matches were played from 7 August to 28 October 2010.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season
The 2010–11 season was Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's 19th season in the Premier League. It was their 33rd successive season in the top division of the English football league system.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season
The campaign featured Tottenham's first ever involvement in the UEFA Champions League, with the club entering via the play-off round after finishing fourth in the 2009–10 season. The club reached the quarter-finals of the competition where they were defeated by Real Madrid.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
Tottenham began their transfer movement for the 2010–11 season in mid-March, when Spurs completed the deal for young Brazilian midfielder Sandro, joining the club from Internacional, a club whom Tottenham have a key affiliation, with Sandro linking up with squad following the 2010 Copa Libertadores. Early in the transfer window, Tottenham retained the services of a number of key players, with club captain Ledley King signing a new two-year contract extension with the club, closely followed by former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, who signed a new one-year contract following his recovery from a serious road accident sustained in November 2009.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
Luka Modrić was the next player to commit his future with the club, signing an extended six-year deal to ensure his services until 2016. After two months of little transfer activity, Tottenham secured the controversial signing of William Gallas on a free transfer following his release from rivals Arsenal. As a result of the move, Gallas became the first Premier League player to play for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, all London clubs and fierce rivals. On transfer deadline day, early in the day, Spurs confirmed the loan signing of Croatian international goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa from Spartak Moscow.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
This looked to be Spurs' only move of the day, but in the final few moments before the deadline, news broke that Tottenham were in negotiations with Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. Following the closure of the transfer window, the club had to wait for the deal to be ratified by the Premier League, due to complications on Spurs' computer. The transfer was completed the next day, with fee believed to be around £8 million.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
During the transfer window, a number of players left Spurs, beginning with young goalkeeper Lee Butcher, leaving to join Leyton Orient on a free transfer after his contract expired at Tottenham, followed a month later by defender Sam Cox signing a contract with Barnet, again, following the expiration of his Spurs contract. Soon after, a number of fringe and academy players, including veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Walker, left the club on free transfers.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
In early August, Queens Park Rangers completed the permanent signing of Adel Taarabt for a fee believed to be around £1 million; Taarabt had spent to 2009–10 season on loan at QPR before sealing a permanent deal. Tottenham's final permanent outgoing transfer of the summer transfer window saw French defender Dorian Dervite move to Spanish club Villarreal for an undisclosed fee.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
The transfer window also saw younger player acquires loan move to gain regular football. The first loan move saw young goalkeeper David Button, fresh off of signing a new three-year contract, join Plymouth Argyle on a season-long loan, followed by another young goalkeeper, Oscar Jansson, joining Northampton Town until September 2010, and completing three loan moves in a week, England under-19 international John Bostock left to join Hull City for the duration of the 2010–11 season.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
Six days later, winger Andros Townsend signed a season-long loan for Ipswich Town after featuring for Tottenham in their pre-season tour of the United States. On the same day, Dean Parrett joined David Button at Plymouth on a one-month deal. The following day, Ryan Mason, who also featured in Spurs' pre-season, joined Doncaster Rovers on a one-month deal, trailed a week later with young striker Jon Obika clinching a move to Crystal Palace for the season.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Transfers
Spurs then signed young South African defender Bongani Khumalo for £1.5 million from South Africa's reigning champions Supersport United as their first signing of the January window. Khumalo joined on a four-and-a-half-year deal. The first senior exit of the window was David Bentley, who moved out on loan to Birmingham City on 12 January; the loan expires at the end of the season. Spurs then captured another South African in Steven Pienaar from Everton, beating Chelsea to the midfielder's signature in a deal that cost Spurs £3 million. A fairly quiet window ended with senior players Robbie Keane, Giovani dos Santos and Jamie O'Hara joining West Ham United, Racing de Santander and Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan deals, respectively. All three players will return at the end of the season.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Tottenham began their pre-season by facing Harry Redknapp and Kevin Bond's former team, AFC Bournemouth, beginning the pre-season with a comfortable 4–0 win. A goal midway through the first half from Jon Obika established a Spurs lead, before a Roman Pavlyuchenko goal doubled the tally. Danny Rose made it three a minute later before another Pavlyuchenko goal wrapped up the game and the winning start.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Spurs then began a tour of the United States, beginning in San Jose, facing Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit San Jose Earthquakes, with the game ending 0–0. Tottenham made the trip to New York to compete in the New York Football Challenge, a tournament featuring Spurs, the New York Red Bulls, Sporting CP and Premier League rivals Manchester City. Spurs' first game saw them pitted against the home side Red Bulls with their new signing, Theirry Henry, making his debut.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Henry opened the scoring against his old rivals, before goals from Robbie Keane and Gareth Bale in the second half gave Spurs the 2–1 win. In Tottenham's final game of the tournament, Spurs faced Portuguese side Sporting, resulting in a 2–2 draw, which resulted in Sporting lifting the trophy of the New York Challenge. Tottenham took an early lead through Robbie Keane, finishing a one-on-one with the 'keeper. Sporting hit back with goals from Chileans Matías Fernández and Jaime Valdés. Spurs equalised though, 20 minutes from time after Jon Obika ran on to a Keane through ball to earn the draw for Tottenham.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Spurs' first friendly at White Hart Lane in the pre-season saw them face Villarreal. Midway through the first half, Villarreal took the lead with former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi finishing a Santi Cazorla through-ball. Villarreal doubled their lead ten minutes later with Rossi scoring his second with clinical finishing following a slip from Michael Dawson. Early in the second half, an early goal from Giovani dos Santos set up a possible comeback, but this was extinguished later in the second half, with Rossi securing his hat-trick with a heavily deflected effort on goal.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Villarreal wrapped up the game late on with Marco Ruben scoring a tap-in to give the away team a 4–1 win. Tottenham then travelled to Lisbon to play Benfica in the Eusébio Cup. Spurs ended up lifting the trophy after securing a 1–0 win, with Gareth Bale scoring the only goal of the game early into the second half. Tottenham ended the pre-season with a home fixture against Italian side Fiorentina early August. In this game, a defensive error gifted Fiorentina the lead inside ten minutes through Alberto Gilardino.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, Pre-season friendlies
Ten minutes later, Spurs hit back though with an equalising goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko, scoring his fourth goal in pre-season. Fiorentina re-gained the lead though, with a shot from Adem Ljajić beating Heurelho Gomes. Spurs, however, equalised early in the second half with Robbie Keane goal before earning the 3–2 win with a last minute Keane goal to end the pre-season with four wins, two draws, and one loss.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
After the international break, Spurs went into September without the injured Jermain Defoe, who would later miss three months with an ankle injury sustained in international duty. September started with a visit to West Bromwich Albion, and in a game where both Rafael van der Vaart and William Gallas made their Spurs debut, the away side took the lead on 27 minutes through Luka Modrić, who would later have to come off injured. Spurs struggled without him and West Brom equalised with Chris Brunt's 50th career goal, a header in the 41st minute. Tottenham ended up taking the point though after goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini made a number of saves to deny West Brom a win as the game ended 1–1.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Spurs then kicked off their first match of the Champions League proper at Werder Bremen by going two goals to the good, first an own-goal by Bremen defender Petri Pasanen and then a trademark header by Peter Crouch from a Van der Vaart cross, only to be denied a famous victory with goals from Hugo Almeida and Marko Marin to earn Werder Bremen a point against a solid-looking Spurs side on the day.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Tottenham then returned to domestic duty with a home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 18 September. Wolves took the lead against what looked like a fatigued Spurs with Steven Fletcher beating Carlo Cudicini to make it 1–0 to Wolves.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
The introduction of fullback Alan Hutton for the injured Younès Kaboul just before half-time made Spurs look a changed side, and the substitute had a huge part in the equaliser after he was brought down in the penalty area to hand van der Vaart a chance to open his account from the spot – which he did, and Spurs went on to win the game 3–1 with goals from another substitute, Roman Pavlyuchenko, and Alan Hutton himself in the dying seconds to secure a Spurs victory.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
The first North London derby of the season saw Spurs take on Arsenal at White Hart Lane in the League Cup third round. Goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, young defender Steven Caulker, and midfielder Sandro made their debuts in a cup tie in which Arsenal took the lead with youngster Henri Lansbury finishing off a crisp Arsenal passing move by sliding home a Jack Wilshere cross on 15 minutes. Spurs responded immediately though after half-time with substitute Robbie Keane scoring in the 49th minute after being released by Kyle Naughton. The game finished 1–1 in normal time and the final score was 1–4 to Arsenal, with two Samir Nasri penalty kicks and a straightforward Andrey Arshavin finish securing victory for the away side and guaranteed a fourth round place for Arsenal.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Spurs returned to Premier League action with another London derby defeat, this time to West Ham United at Upton Park. In an eventful match, this one was decided by a 29th minute Frédéric Piquionne header from a Mark Noble corner.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Spurs ended the month in action in the Champions League against Twente at White Hart Lane. In another impressive European game by Spurs' standards, Spurs missed a host of chances in the first half, including a Van der Vaart penalty, which was saved by the Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov. Spurs though scored four in the second half, this time with van der Vaart opening the scoring from a Crouch knock-down two minutes after half-time and then proceeding to get sent off for a second yellow card.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Pavlyuchenko made it two though from the spot in the 50th minute before Nacer Chadli poked home 6 minutes later for Twente, to pull it back to 2–1. Another Pavlyuchenko penalty and an individual effort from Gareth Bale made it 4–1 the final score and gave Spurs their first win in the Champions League proper.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, September, Month summary
Tottenham ended the month eighth in the Premiership and second in the Champions League Group A.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, October, Month summary
Spurs began the month of October in Premier League action, starting with a home game against Aston Villa. Spurs fell behind on 16 minutes, after Marc Albrighton slid home from close range to give the visitors the lead. Spurs fought back though, and eventually won the game through a brace from Rafael van der Vaart.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, October, Month summary
After a break of internationals, Spurs travelled to Craven Cottage for a London derby with Fulham. Spurs again fell behind after a simple Diomansy Kamara finish, but then replied straight from the kick-off, after Van der Vaart's chip rebounded off the top of the crossbar to Roman Pavlyuchenko, who couldn't really miss from almost a yard out. However, Spurs controversially won all three points after Tom Huddlestone hit a fierce long range shot into the bottom corner of the net, which the Fulham team thought had taken a nick off William Gallas, who was indeed standing in an offside position. The goal stood and it seemed it was the right decision, as the ball actually hit a Fulham defender on its way to goal rather than Gallas.


2010–11 Tottenham Hotspur F.C. season, Season 2010–11, October, Month summary
Tottenham were then facing the reigning European champions Internazionale on a night to remember for Spurs fans at the San Siro. Not even 2 minutes had gone when Spurs made the worst possible start after Javier Zanetti curled home past an onrushing Heurelho Gomes, who then conceded a penalty and was sent off after denying Jonathan Biabiany a goal scoring opportunity in the penalty area – Samuel Eto'o converted the penalty and scored another past Carlo Cudicini after Dejan Stanković had earlier given Inter a three-goal cushion, meaning that Spurs were 4–0 down in 14 minutes.