2011 Firestone Twin 275s
The Firestone Twin 275s were the sixth and seventh races of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The races took place on June 11, on the 1.455-mile (2.342 km)Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, and was telecasted by Versus in the United States.


2011 Firestone Twin 275s
The race was unique in its format of two 114-lap races, with each race was for half points. The second race grid positions were determined by a random draw.


2011 Florence shootings
On 13 December 2011, an armed attack occurred in Florence. Two market traders from Senegal, 40-year-old Samb Modou, and 54-year-old Diop Mor, were killed by Gianluca Casseri, who wounded three other Senegalese traders in another market. According to Florentine prosecutor Giuseppe Quattrocchi, the killer shot himself dead as he was approached by police in a car park. The attack was racially motivated according to authorities. The attack occurred during the 2011 Liège attack, which started on the same day, at the same hour.


2011 Florence shootings, Timeline
The first shootings were at the Piazza Dalmazia market on Tuesday morning, where two market traders were shot dead and one injured. The killer then fled in a car and wounded two more vendors at the San Lorenzo later that day. He shot himself when confronted by armed police.


2011 Florence shootings, Response to shootings
After the shootings some people protested, marching to the Prefects' office, demanding justice and a representative met the prefect. Some Senegalese met in the Duomo square to pray.


2011 Florence shootings, Response to shootings
CasaPound, an Italian far-right and neo-fascist group, described him as a sympathiser but not a member.


2011 Florence shootings, The attacker
The attacker was a 50-year-old Gianluca Casseri, and accountant from Pistoia who had a history of involvement in far-right politics. In 2010 he published an historical novel La Chiave del Caos, co-authored with Enrico Rulli. He also published a newsletter for fans of J. R. R. Tolkien.


2011 Flores rail crash
The 2011 Flores rail crash occurred at 06.23 ART on 13 September 2011 when a bus on a level crossing at Flores rail station, in the Flores barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was hit by a train on the Sarmiento Line, heading for Moreno. The accident caused that same train to smash into another one as it derailed.


2011 Flores rail crash, The Train
The train, operated by Trenes de Buenos Aires, derailed and crashed into a second train, heading for Once in the Balvanera barrio, which was standing at the station. The accident, which occurred during the morning rush hour, resulted in 11 deaths and 228 injuries. The bus, owned by Empresa de Transportes Microomnibus Saenz Peña, was working a scheduled service on route 92, heading for Retiro. Video evidence revealed that the bus driver, who was killed in the accident, ignored warning lights and drove around a partly lowered crossing barrier.


2011 Flores rail crash, Impact
The impact carried the bus into the station, where it was crushed against a platform. The front carriages of the train derailed, and hit the Once train, which was arriving at the opposite platform. It took firefighters two hours to release one of the train drivers from the wreckage. A total of 100 ambulances and 10 fire engines attended the incident, and some of the injured were ferried to hospital by helicopter. At the time, it was the deadliest rail crash within the city since the Villa Soldati level crossing tragedy in 1962.


2011 Florida A&M Rattlers football team
The 2011 Florida A&M Rattlers football team represented Florida A&M University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rattlers were led by fourth year head coach Joe Taylor and played their home games at Bragg Memorial Stadium. They are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place.


2011 Florida Atlantic Owls football team
The 2011 Florida Atlantic Owls football team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls' head coach, Howard Schnellenberger, was in his 11th and final season at the school, as he announced his retirement before the start of the season. The team played its home games at the brand new FAU Stadium. They are members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 1–11, 0–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place.


2011 Florida Gators baseball team
The 2011 Florida Gators baseball team represented the University of Florida in the sport of baseball during the 2011 college baseball season. The Gators competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Alfred A. McKethan Stadium, on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The team was coached by Kevin O'Sullivan, who was in his fourth season at Florida.


2011 Florida Gators baseball team
The Gators began the season looking to improve upon their appearance in the 2010 College World Series, where they were eliminated after their first two games. After winning the SEC Tournament, the Gators advanced to the best-of-three 2011 College World Series Finals, where they were defeated by South Carolina in two games.


2011 Florida Gators football team
The 2011 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2011 college football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus, and were led by first-year head coach Will Muschamp. Muschamp coached the Gators to a third-place finish in the SEC East, a 3–5 conference record, a 24–17 Gator Bowl victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes, and an overall win-loss record of 7–6 (.539).


2011 Florida Gators football team, Previous season
The 2010 Florida Gators compiled an 8–5 overall win-loss record, and a 4–4 record in the Southeastern Conference. They concluded the 2010 season with a 37–24 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Outback Bowl.


2011 Florida Gators football team, Game summaries, Florida Atlantic
Will Muschamp's debut as head coach for Florida was a success as the Gators defeated the Owls 41–3.


2011 Florida Gators softball team
The 2011 Florida Gators softball team represented the University of Florida softball program for the 2011 NCAA softball season.


2011 Florida Gators softball team, Roster
The 2011 Florida Gators softball team has 5 seniors, 4 juniors, 4 sophomores, and 4 freshmen.


2011 Florida Marlins season
The Florida Marlins' 2011 season was the 19th season for the Major League Baseball franchise. This was the final year in which the Marlins played their home games at Sun Life Stadium, as well as the final season for the team under the name "Florida Marlins". They failed to make the playoffs for the 8th consecutive season.


2011 Florida Marlins season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2011 Florida Marlins season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H =Hits; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed;  K = Strikeouts; ERA = Earned run average;


2011 Florida State Seminoles football team
The 2011 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS college football season. The Seminoles were led by second-year head coach Jimbo Fisher and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium. They were members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, playing in the Atlantic Division.


2011 Florida State Seminoles football team
Despite starting the season with  a 2–3 record, the Seminoles finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in ACC play, to finish in a tie for second place in the Atlantic Division. They were invited to the Champs Sports Bowl where they defeated Notre Dame.


2011 Florida State Seminoles football team, Previous Season
Florida State ended the 2010 season with a 10–4 record (6–2 in the ACC) and were ranked #16 in the final Coaches Poll. They were led by head coach Jimbo Fisher in his first year of head coaching. The Seminoles lost three starters on offense (QB Christian Ponder, OG Rodney Hudson, and C Ryan McMahon) and three on defense (DE Marcus White, LB Mister Alexander, and LB Kendall Smith).


2011 Food City 250
The 2011 Food City 250 was the 25th stock car race of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was held on August 26, 2011, at Bristol Motor Speedway, in Bristol, Tennessee, before a crowd of 108,000 spectators. Kyle Busch of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 250-lap race from the pole position. His teammate Joey Logano finished in second, and Kevin Harvick Incorporated driver Clint Bowyer was third.


2011 Food City 250
Busch won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, and held the lead for the opening 112 laps until he was passed by Bowyer on the 113th lap. Busch retook the lead at the start on the 163th lap. He maintained the first position for the next 24 laps, with Bowyer retaking the lead on lap 187. Two laps later, Busch overtook Bowyer to reclaim the lead. Logano was the leader at the final restart on lap 198. On the 206th lap, Busch got ahead of his teammate Logano to advance back into first. Over the final 34 laps, Logano tried to get by his teammate Busch, but he was unsuccessful, as Busch held him off to win by 0.019 seconds, the closest finish in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.


2011 Food City 250
The win was Busch's third consecutive at Bristol Motor Speedway (the first time in Nationwide Series history), his 12th at the track, and the 50th of his career in the division, breaking Mark Martin's record of most series wins he held since 1997. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. maintained the lead in the Drivers' Championship, with Elliott Sadler reducing his advantage to five points. Joe Gibbs's No. 18 team increased their advantage over the No. 60 team of Jack Roush at the top of the Owners' Championship, while Toyota moved past Ford to lead the Manufacturers' Championship with nine races left in the season.


2011 Food City 250, Background
The 2011 Food City 250 was the 25th of 34 scheduled stock car races of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was held on August 26, 2011, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a short track that holds NASCAR races. The standard track is a four-turn 0.533 mi (0.858 km) short oval. The track's turns are banked from 24 to 30 degrees, while both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked from six to ten degrees.


2011 Food City 250, Background
Before the race Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led the Drivers' Championship with 834 points, with Elliott Sadler eight points behind in the second position. Reed Sorenson was in third with 825 points, Justin Allgaier was fourth with 772 points and Aric Almirola stood in fifth on 770 points. Jason Leffler, Kenny Wallace, Steve Wallace, Brian Scott and Michael Annett rounded out the top ten. Joe Gibbs, owner of the No. 18 car, led the Owners' Championship with 912 points.


2011 Food City 250, Background
Jack Roush's No. 60 team followed in second with 870 points, while Sandra Turner's No. 32, DeLana Harvick's No. 33, and Roush's No. 6 team completed the top five. Ford led the Manufacturers' Championship with 142 points; Toyota, Chevrolet, and Dodge followed with 141, 134, and 110 points, respectively. Kyle Busch was the race's defending champion.


2011 Food City 250, Background
There was one driver change heading into the race. Penske Racing announced that Camping World Truck Series driver Parker Kligerman would drive the No. 22 car in place of Brad Keselowski who was recovering from an ankle fracture and a strained back that he sustained in a testing crash at Road Atlanta in early August 2011. It was later disclosed that Penske driver Kurt Busch declined an offer to fill in for Keselowski because he wanted to focus on challenging for the Sprint Cup Series championship.


2011 Food City 250, Practice and qualification
One 120 minute practice session was held on the morning of August 26. With a time of 16.02 seconds, Sadler was the fastest driver in the sole practice session, ahead of Kenny Wallace in second, and Trevor Bayne in third. Leffler was fourth-fastest, Busch came fifth, and Joey Logano placed sixth. Carl Edwards was seventh-quickest, Steve Wallace eighth, Mike Bliss ninth, and Kasey Kahne tenth. During practice, T. J. Bell accidentally reversed on the pit road, and ran over the pelvis of his team's crew chief Cory Howe, who sustained a cut to his head. Howe was conscious when he was airlifted to Wellmont Health System in Kingsport, Tennessee for treatment to his injuries. Tests for any severe injuries to Howe were negative.


2011 Food City 250, Practice and qualification
A total of 49 cars attempted to qualify for the event on Friday afternoon; according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest lap times. Busch took his second Nationwide Series pole position at Bristol Motor Speedway, and the 23rd of his career, with a lap of 15.979 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Logano, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who recorded a time that was 0.018 seconds slower. Sadler qualified in the third position, Kenny Wallace took fourth, and Leffer started from fifth place. Edwards, Bayne, Allgaier, Clint Bowyer, and Stenhouse completed the top ten qualifiers. Johnny Chapman, John Jackson, J. J. Yeley, Bell, Jennifer Jo Cobb, and Carl Long were the six drivers who failed to qualify.


2011 Food City 250, Race
Live television coverage began at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00) in the United States on ESPN. Around the start of the race, rain fell on the track, but it later dissipated. Mike Rife, senior minister of Vansant Church of Christ, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Country music singer JT Hodges performed the national anthem, and Sullivan County Deputy Sheriff Carolyn Gudger commanded the drivers to start their engines. No driver moved to the back of the grid during the pace laps.


2011 Food City 250, Race
The race began at 7:46 p.m. local time. Busch maintained the lead from his teammate Logano on the first lap. On lap four, Bowyer attempted to get between two Roush Fenway Racing cars, and ran into the rear of Stenhouse's car exiting turn four. By the ninth lap, Logano was 1.3 seconds adrift of race leader Busch. Sadler began battling Kenny Wallace for third on lap 13, and got ahead of him seven laps later.


2011 Food City 250, Race
The first caution was waved on lap 35, as David Reutimann was hit from behind by Kahne, sending him spinning in the fourth turn, and reducing Busch's lead of more than 2.6 seconds to nothing. During the caution, several drivers chose to make pit stops. Busch led at the lap 42 restart, followed by Logano, Bowyer, and Sadler. Around this time, Sadler advanced to second place but Logano retook it on the 47th lap.


2011 Food City 250, Race
By lap 68, Busch moved to around 1.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Logano. Three laps later, Bowyer passed Logano on the inside lane between the third and fourth turns to move into second place. He began closing the gap to Busch while the two were within slower traffic. Bowyer clung onto the rear of Busch on lap 110, and he made a pass for the lead between turns three and four on the 113th lap. Busch then began reporting a tight handling car.


2011 Food City 250, Race
On lap 122, Bowyer eased off the accelerator pedal to avoid hitting Sorenson and David Starr in turn four. As the surface of the circuit caused drivers to have difficulties with steering their vehicles, on lap 125, Jeremy Clements' tire failed, grazing the catchfence, and littering debris on the track, necessitating the second caution. Busch made a pit stop under caution on the 127th lap. Bowyer maintained the lead at the lap 132 restart. Four laps later, Kenny Wallace caused a third caution when his tire failed, and he made contact with the barrier between turns three and four.


2011 Food City 250, Race
The race restarted on lap 141 with Bowyer leading Busch and his teammate Logano. Sadler sought a way past Busch on the 143rd lap but he could not complete the overtake. A fourth caution came out on lap 145, as Kligerman spun 180 degrees up the circuit in turn two while attempting to pass Stenhouse. Bowyer again maintained the first position at the lap 151 restart. That lap, Bayne unsuccessfully attempted to overtake Busch for second. Bayne later fell behind Leffler and Edwards to fourth on the 160th lap.


2011 Food City 250, Race
Busch went to the outside to pass Bowyer to retake the lead at the start/finish line to start lap 163. Five laps later, Edwards began battling Leffler for the third position, and the trio of Bayne, Sadler and Almirola were in a duel for sixth place by lap 173. By the 178th lap, Busch and Bowyer pulled away to lead the third-placed Leffler by five seconds.


2011 Food City 250, Race
On lap 185, Bowyer went to the inside of Busch, and passed him for the lead two laps later. He led the next two laps before Busch passed him on lap 189. Two laps later, Starr's tire blew, and the right-hand quarter of his car struck the turn two wall, triggering the fifth (and final) caution. All of the leaders (including Busch) elected to make pit stops during the caution. Green flag racing resumed on the 198th lap with the non-stopping Logano leading. That lap, Busch began challenging his teammate Logano for the lead.


2011 Food City 250, Race
Edwards lost fourth to Bowyer on lap 201. Five laps later, Bowyer overtook Leffler for third place. Around the same time, Logano lost the lead to Busch. On the 211th lap, Logano made an unsuccessful attempt to retake the lead from his teammate Busch, as the first three were evenly separated by lap 220.


2011 Food City 250, Race
By the 239th lap, Busch had increased his lead to eight-tenths of a second, though his teammate Logano lowered it to challenge him six laps later. Both were delayed by Joe Nemechek on lap 247 but the two got past him soon after. Busch and Logano were alongside each other during the final two laps, as Busch had an understeer at the right-rear of his car when he steered to the inside. Logano took the lead on the inside, and moved narrowly ahead of Busch leaving the fourth turn.


2011 Food City 250, Race
However, Busch had momentum on the outside down the frontstretch to win. It was Busch's third consecutive win at Bristol Motor Speedway (a first in series history), his 12th at the track, and the 50th in the Nationwide Series, breaking Mark Martin's 1997 record of most division victories. The margin of victory was 0.019 seconds, the closest in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and then the seventh closest in NASCAR history since electronic scoring was introduced in 1993. There were six lead changes among three drivers during the race. Busch's 186 laps led was the most of any competitor.


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
I don't know if it was aero with him being so close to me or just the right rear sliding out from underneath me. The middle was where I could carry the most momentum and run down the straightaways a bit faster than him. I knew if it came down to a race where we would bang each other's doors through (turns) 3 and 4 like we did, that getting back to the gas and coming through turn 4 as hard as you could, taking the momentum from the top side would be the way to do it.


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Kyle Busch on holding off his teammate Logano in the closest Nationwide Series finish in Bristol Motor Speedway history.


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Busch appeared in Victory Lane after his victory lap to celebrate his 50th career victory in front of the crowd of 108,000 people; the win earned him $46,575.


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
He said that he was pleased to break Martin's achievement at Bristol Motor Speedway, and felt he was certain the spectators enjoyed his battle with Logano, "There are an awful lot of accomplishments and it's hard to pinpoint where they fall, but tonight is a pretty big one, just being able to race that hard and race against a teammate like that knowing that he had just as good of stuff as I did." Logano stated he was envious about his teammate's win, "I did everything I could possibly do besides wreck him to try to make the pass. But that ain't the right thing to do when he's your teammate. It's frustrating, but what a day for JGR. Coming across the line that close and rubbing doors. That's cool. I just wish that I was the one celebrating right now."


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Third-placed Bowyer complemented Busch, "I'm fortunate to be able to work with him every weekend. Just listening to the way he talks about his car and what he looks for, there definitely are a lot of things you can learn from talking to him and watching him race. We want to beat him. It's frustrating to be so close. He's just a really good driver."


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Busch's crew chief Jason Ratcliff commented that the driver had the potential to win 100 Nationwide Series races, "The first time I met Kyle when he was running the 5 car at Hendrick; he was very, very impressive from the first time I watched him on the race track and had to race against him, So I was really excited when he came over to Gibbs."


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Edwards, who finished in fourth place, spoke of his disappointment over not winning the event after he was penalized for a pit road transgression, "Man, I really wanted to win this race, We got pushed back with the pit road penalty and that made the night tougher. Then we got all the way back up there and I thought we were going to have a shot there at the end."


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
The result kept Stenhouse in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with a new total of 867 points. Sadler moved to within five points of him in second, and Sorenson was another five points behind in third. Almirola improved his position to fourth, while Allgaier fell to fifth. Leffler, Kenny Wallace, Steve Wallace, Scott, and Annetti rounded out the top ten.


2011 Food City 250, Race, Post-race
Gibbs' No. 18 team also maintained the lead in a much wider Owners' Championship; Edwards' fourth-place finish left Roush's No. 60 team 50 points behind Gibbs, while Turner's No. 32, Harvick's No. 33, and Roush No. 6 squads remained third, fourth, and fifth. Toyota gained the lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with 150 points; Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge followed with 146, 140, and 114 respective points.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final
The 2011 Football League Championship play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 30 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Swansea City and Reading. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the  Premier League.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final
The top two teams of the 2010–11 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the teams placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Swansea ended the season in third place while Reading had finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2011–12 season in the Premier League. Winning the game was estimated to be worth up to £90 million to the successful team.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final
The 2011 final, refereed by Phil Dowd, was watched by a crowd of more than 86,000 people. Swansea took the lead in the first half with a Scott Sinclair penalty, who scored again a minute later. Before half-time, Stephen Dobbie added a third for a scoreline of 3–0. During half-time, Reading's Jay Tabb and their assistant manager were sent off for abusing the referee.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final
An own goal early in the second half from Swansea's Joe Allen and a goal from Reading's Matt Mills made the score 3–2 but Sinclair completed his hat-trick, once again with a penalty, and Swansea won the match 4–2. It was their first top-tier play-off final win. Sinclair's hat-trick was the second in play-off final history, and he was named man of the match.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final
Swansea ended the next season in mid-table in the Premier League. Reading finished the following season as champions of the Football League Championship and were automatically promoted to the Premier League.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Swansea City finished the regular 2010–11 season in third place in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, two places and three points ahead of Reading. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Premier League and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Swansea finished four points behind Norwich City (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Queens Park Rangers (QPR).


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Reading faced Cardiff City in their play-off semi-final, the first leg of which took place at the Madejski Stadium. Michael Chopra came on for Cardiff's striker Craig Bellamy early in the first half who suffered a suspected hamstring strain, and after the break, Reading's Hal Robson-Kanu was replaced by Mathieu Manset, again through injury. Neither team dominated the match which had few chances, and ended 0–0. The second leg, at the Cardiff City Stadium, was played four days later.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
Shane Long put the visitors ahead midway through the first half, chipping Stephen Bywater, the Cardiff goalkeeper, from 20 yards (18 m). Long doubled his tally with a penalty on half time after Matt Mills was fouled by Dekel Keinan, and Jobi McAnuff scored a third, to secure a 3–0 aggregate win for Reading and qualification to the play-off final.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Route to the final
In the other play-off semi-final, Swansea City's opponents were Nottingham Forest, with the first leg being played at the City Ground. The Welsh side's defender Neil Taylor was sent off within two minutes for a foul on Lewis McGugan but despite having to play almost the whole game with ten men, Swansea held on for a 0–0 draw. The return leg took place four days later at the Liberty Stadium. Both sides hit the bar before Leon Britton's 25-yard (23 m) strike put Swansea into the lead. Five minutes later Stephen Dobbie doubled their lead, and while Robert Earnshaw struck back for Forest with twelve minutes remaining, a third goal, this time on the break, from Swansea's Darren Pratley in injury time sealed a 3–1 aggregate win and passage to the final.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
This was Swansea's first Championship play-off final, although they had lost in the third-tier final in 2006 on penalties to Barnsley at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Reading had lost the 1995 Football League First Division play-off Final against Bolton Wanderers at the old Wembley Stadium, and had failed to qualify for the final, losing out in the 2003 and 2009 play-off semi-finals. During the regular season, Swansea beat Reading both home and away, 1–0 on each occasion. Long was Reading's top scorer with 21 goals while Scott Sinclair led the scoring charts for Swansea with 19. The referee for the final was Phil Dowd, with assistant referees Scott Ledger and Simon Long, with Lee Mason acting as the fourth official.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final was scheduled to be held at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, so alternative venues for all of the 2011 play-off finals were considered. Manchester United's Old Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium were also said to have been under consideration to host the play-off finals.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
It was subsequently confirmed that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, two days after the Champions League final, while Old Trafford would host the League One and League Two finals on 28 and 29 May respectively. Accountancy firm Deloitte calculated that the Championship play-off final would again be worth about £90 million to the winner, including more than £40 million of higher broadcast income, gate receipts and commercial income in the 2011–12 Premier League. Reading were looking to return to the Premier League after a three-year absence while Swansea had last played in England's top-flight in the 1982–83 season. A victory for them would have made them the first Welsh team to participate in the Premier League since its establishment in the 1992–93 season.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Background
Jimmy Kébé returned to the Reading starting line-up having recovered from injury, with Shaun Cummings dropping to the bench. Kébé had scored nine goals and made seven assists, but a thigh injury had kept him out of the last six games. Swansea's starting eleven were unchanged from the team that had won the second semi-final leg against Nottingham Forest.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, First half
Reading kicked the game off around 3 p.m. in front of a Wembley crowd of 86,581. Kébé's early cross was dropped by the Swansea goalkeeper Dorus de Vries but was cleared by his defenders. Sinclair was then fouled, but the resulting free kick was struck high and wide of Adam Federici's goal by Fabio Borini. In the eighth minute, a foul on Sinclair by Andy Griffin saw him receive the first booking of the game from the referee Phil Dowd. Four minutes later, both Borini and Zurab Khizanishvili were also booked, this time for an altercation.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, First half
In the 18th minute, a Jem Karacan attempt was deflected and three minutes later, Khizanishvili's challenge on Nathan Dyer in the box was deemed a foul. A penalty was awarded to Swansea which was scored by Sinclair. Immediately after the restart, Dobbie made a run down the right and passed to Sinclair, whose shot went in at the far post despite Federici getting a hand on it, making the score 2–0 after 22 minutes. Mills' shot for Reading was blocked and soon after a McAnuff corner was headed off-target by Noel Hunt.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, First half
With about ten minutes of the half remaining, Sinclair passed to Borini, whose shot on the turn was defended by Mills. After a period of possession for Swansea, Reading had two corners with no end product before McAnuff was booked for a foul on Britton in the 39th minute. Within a minute, Swansea extended their lead to 3–0 – Khizanishvili failed to deal with Dyer's cross and Dobbie side-footed the ball past Federici. In the final minute of half, MacAnuff's cross was struck wide of an empty net from seven yards by Long. Into stoppage time, Mikele Leigertwood's shot from 22 yards was palmed down by de Vries, before Dowd brought the half to a close, with Swansea leading 3–0 at the break.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
During the half-time interval, Dowd sent off Reading's Jay Tabb and their assistant manager Nigel Gibbs for abuse, disallowing them from watching the second half from the dug-out. Karacan's effort early in the second half was blocked before Reading were awarded a corner in the third minute. Hunt's header at the near post from McAnuff's cross was headed into his own net by the Swansea's Joe Allen, making it 3–1. Four minutes later, Allen was booked for a foul on Leigertwood, picking up the fifth yellow card of the game.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
Dobbie then struck wide with only the goalkeeper to beat before Mills scored from another McAnuff corner, reducing Reading's deficit to a single goal. Two minutes later, Karacan's strike hit the post and Garry Monk's block prevented Hunt from finishing the rebound. Each side made a substitution with around 15 minutes remaining, Simon Church replacing Hunt and Swansea's Mark Gower on for Britton. In the 80th minute, Swansea extended their lead with another Sinclair penalty, following a Griffin foul on Borini in the box.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Match, Second half
The strike completed Sinclair's hat-trick, just the second in play-off final history after Clive Mendonca's treble for Charlton Athletic against Sunderland in the 1998 Football League First Division play-off Final. With six minutes remaining, Robson-Kanu came on for Griffin. Swansea retained possession and limited Reading's chances, and made their final substitution, Luke Moore coming on for Allen in the final moments of the game. Four minutes of additional time were indicated, in the last of which an unmarked Leigertwood headed over from a corner. The match ended 4–2 to Swansea who were promoted to the Premier League.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
The Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said: "It was a fantastic game, we didn't play as well as we have done for the rest of the season but in the moments we showed quality we were very good ... I think ourselves, Norwich and QPR will be a credit to the Championship." Monk, Swansea's captain, noted: "Reading came back at us, fair play to them ... But we held on." Sinclair was named as man of the match.


2011 Football League Championship play-off Final, Post-match
Swansea ended the next season in mid-table in the Premier League, in eleventh place and eleven points clear of the relegation zone. Reading finished the following season as champions of the Football League Championship place, one point ahead of Southampton, and were automatically promoted to the Premier League.


2011 Football League Cup Final
The 2011 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Football League Cup, the 51st season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and the Football League. The match was contested by Arsenal and Birmingham City, at Wembley Stadium in London, on 27 February 2011. Birmingham City won the game 2–1 and were guaranteed a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Mike Dean was the referee.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Background
Arsenal held the advantage over Birmingham in the league matches between the two sides in 2010–11, having beaten them 2–1 at the Emirates Stadium in October and again 3–0 at St Andrew's on New Year's Day.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Background
Arsenal had played in six Football League Cup finals, but had only won two, most recently in 1993 when they beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–1. Birmingham's only League Cup title came in 1963, when they beat local rivals Aston Villa 3–1 on aggregate after a two-legged final. They also reached the 2001 final, which was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff against Liverpool, but the 2011 final was Birmingham's first appearance in the final of a major competition at Wembley for nearly 55 years, their last being the 1956 FA Cup Final.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match
In the build-up to the game, Arsène Wenger criticised the FA and UEFA for overpricing tickets for their finals.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match
A number of Arsenal players missed out on the final. Thomas Vermaelen was not fit, while goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański had been ruled out for the rest of the season. Theo Walcott picked up a sprained ankle in a match against Stoke City a few days prior, and captain Cesc Fàbregas was also injured in that game; both missed the final. Abou Diaby was also injured.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Pre-match
For Birmingham, Scott Dann was ruled out for the rest of the season following an injury in the League Cup semi-final, while James McFadden was still not recovered from an injury received in September. Former Arsenal player Alexander Hleb was injured in an FA Cup match the week before, and failed to recover in time to play. David Bentley, who had replaced Hleb in that match, was cup-tied, having played for Tottenham Hotspur in their defeat to Arsenal in the third round.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
There was a moment of contention just two minutes into the match as an early Birmingham chance was created through Lee Bowyer, who appeared to be fouled by Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny in what would probably have been a penalty kick and red card for the keeper. However, Bowyer had already been flagged offside (a decision that replays proved was incorrect).


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
After ten minutes, Birmingham's Barry Ferguson was involved a collision, and played the rest of the game with what proved to be two broken ribs.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
Arsenal threatened regularly throughout the course of the match, with an eventual 20 attempts on goal to Birmingham's 11 (both teams were denied by the woodwork once), however the fine work of Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster kept the north London team at bay. Foster would go on to win the man of the match award, and with it, the Alan Hardaker Trophy (also making Foster the first-ever player to win the trophy on two occasions).


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
Birmingham took the lead in the 28th minute when a corner kick was sent into the box, Roger Johnson won the initial header towards goal which was then flicked in off the head of Nikola Žigić past Wojciech Szczęsny into the net. Arsenal levelled 11 minutes later when, moments after Jack Wilshere struck the crossbar with a shot, Robin van Persie volleyed an Andrei Arshavin cross in with his right foot.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
However, Van Persie injured himself upon landing, and while he was initially able to continue, he struggled as the match went on and was eventually substituted by Nicklas Bendtner partway through the second half. Going into half-time the scoreline stayed at 1–1, with both teams failing to capitalise on good opportunities to score a second, including Arsenal's Samir Nasri who had a long-range effort saved, and then in the second half Birmingham's Keith Fahey was denied by the post.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
On 83 minutes, Birmingham brought on Obafemi Martins in place of Fahey. Six minutes later, and in the final minute of normal time, Martins scored to put Birmingham 2–1 up after a mix-up between Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny. A long ball from Blues keeper Foster, flicked on by Žigić, appeared to be heading safely into the hands of the Arsenal keeper. But Koscielny attempted to play the ball, distracting Szczęsny and causing him to bobble the ball into the path of Martins, who tapped it into an empty net.


2011 Football League Cup Final, Match, Summary
Too little time was left for Arsenal to recover, and after four-and-a-half minutes of injury time was seen out, Birmingham City secured their second Football League Cup trophy.


2011 Football League One play-off Final
The 2011 Football League One play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 29 May 2011 at Old Trafford in Manchester, between Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from Football League One to the Football League Championship. The top two teams of the 2010–11 Football League One season, Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton, gained automatic promotion to the Championship, while the teams placed from third to sixth position took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2011–12 season in the Championship. AFC Bournemouth and Milton Keynes Dons were the defeated semi-finalists, losing to Huddersfield Town and Peterborough United respectively.


2011 Football League One play-off Final
Steve Tanner was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 48,410 spectators. Craig Mackail-Smith, League One's leading scorer, went close for Peterborough on several occasions in the first half but it ended goalless. In the 78th minute, Peterborough took the lead as Tommy Rowe headed Grant McCann's free-kick into the Huddersfield net. Mackail-Smith doubled Peterborough's lead within two minutes, his shot deflecting into the goal off Antony Kay. With five minutes remaining, McCann increased the lead with a long-range strike to give Peterborough a 3–0 victory and promotion to the Championship.


2011 Football League One play-off Final
Peterborough United ended their next season in 18th place in the Championship, four places and ten points above the relegation zone. Huddersfield Town finished their following season in fourth position in League One and qualified for the 2012 Football League play-offs where they met Sheffield United in the final and won promotion to the Championship after a penalty shootout.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Huddersfield Town finished the regular 2010–11 season in third place in Football League One, the third tier of the English football league system, one place and eight points ahead of Peterborough United. Both therefore missed out on the two automatic places for promotion to the Football League Championship and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the third promoted team. Huddersfield Town finished five points behind Southampton (who were promoted in second place) and eight behind league winners Brighton & Hove Albion.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Peterborough United's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Milton Keynes Dons with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes on 15 May 2011. Craig Mackail-Smith gave the visitors the lead in the 8th minute, scoring after MK Dons goalkeeper David Martin pushed away a strike from Nathaniel Mendez-Laing. In the 47th minute, Daniel Powell levelled the score from close range after a defensive error from Tommy Rowe and three minutes later MK Dons went ahead 2–1 after Sam Baldock's free-kick went through the wall into the Peterborough net.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Ángelo Balanta made it 3–1 in the 56th minute after beating Peterborough goalkeeper Paul Jones at the near post. Charlie Lee was then sent off for Peterborough after receiving two yellow cards, the second for a foul on Powell. With nine minutes remaining, Stephen Gleeson was also sent off, for a foul on Mark Little, and Grant McCann converted the subsequent penalty to make the final score 3–2 to MK Dons. The second leg was held four days later at London Road in Peterborough. McCann scored in the 11th minute from a free-kick to put Peterborough into the lead before Mackail-Smith's close-range strike made it 2–0 and sent his side to the final with a 4–3 aggregate victory.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Huddersfield Town faced AFC Bournemouth in the other semi-final; the first leg was played at Dean Court in Bournemouth on 14 May 2011. Midway through the first half, Kevin Kilbane put the visitors ahead with a header from Gary Roberts' cross. Soon after, Rhoys Wiggins was fouled by Huddersfield goalkeeper Ian Bennett, who conceded a penalty. Danny Ings took the spot-kick but Bennett dived to his right to make the save. In the 60th minute, Donal McDermott scored with a shot from around 25 yards (23 metres) to level the match, which ended 1–1.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
The second leg took place four days later at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield. Lee Peltier gave Huddersfield the lead on 26 minutes from a Roberts corner, but Steve Lovell equalised just before half-time from the penalty spot after Adam Smith was fouled in the Huddersfield penalty area. Danny Ward restored the home side's lead just before half-time with a strike past Bournemouth's goalkeeper Shwan Jalal. Midway through the second half, McDermott's pass found Lovell who rounded Bennett and scored to make it 2–2. With the aggregate score 3–3 at the final whistle, the match went into extra time.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Route to the final
Ings scored for Bournemouth from a Marc Pugh cross in the 104th minute but Antony Kay equalised almost immediately with a header from a Roberts corner. Midway through the second period of additional time, Jason Pearce was shown the red card for a foul. The match ended 3–3, and with the scores level at 4–4 on aggregate, a penalty shootout was required to determine who would progress. Michael Symes and Lee Novak scored the opening penalties for Bournemouth and Huddersfield respectively but Liam Feeney's spot-kick was saved by Bennett. Ward made it 2–1 to Huddersfield before Anton Robinson missed his penalty. Kilbane and Shaun Cooper then scored for Huddersfield and Bournemouth respectively, but Kay scored the decider and Huddersfield won the shootout 4–2, progressing to the final.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
Due to the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final being held at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, it appeared that the three Football League play-off finals may have to be played at a different venue for the first time since 2007. Manchester United's Old Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff were also under consideration to host the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals. It was confirmed in January 2011 that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, while Old Trafford would host the League Two and League One finals on 28 and 29 May respectively.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The match was Huddersfield Town's third play-off final—their previous appearances came in 1995 (a 2–1 win over Bristol Rovers) and 2004 (a 4–1 penalty shootout win over Mansfield Town)—and capped their seventh overall appearance in the Football League play-offs. They had been relegated to the third tier of English football at the end of the 2002–03 season. Peterborough United had also featured in two previous play-off finals, winning the Football League Third Division final in both 1992 (2–1 against Stockport County) and 2000 (1–0 against Darlington). They had been relegated to League One the previous season, finishing bottom of the division and 15 points from safety.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The sides had played each other three times during the season, twice in the league and once in the Football League Trophy. Peterborough won the first league encounter 4–2 at London Road in August 2010; Huddersfield secured a 3–2 victory six weeks later in the cup competition. The second league match took place in April 2011 and ended in a 1–1 draw. This was also the second time the sides had faced one another in the play-offs, with Peterborough winning 4–3 on aggregate in the 1992 semi-finals.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
Peterborough's Mackail-Smith was the division's top scorer during the regular season with 32 goals (27 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup and 3 in the League Cup). His side's other leading scorers were George Boyd with 17 (15 in the league and 2 in the League Cup) and Aaron McLean on 13 (10 in the league, 2 in the FA Cup and 1 in the League Cup). Jordan Rhodes was Huddersfield's top scorer with 26 goals (20 in the league, 1 in the FA Cup, 1 in the League Cup and 4 in the Football League Trophy) followed by Anthony Pilkington with 14 (10 in the league and 3 in the Football League Trophy).


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Background
The referee for the match was Steve Tanner. He was assisted by Peter Bankes and Charles Breakspear, Mick Russell acted as the fourth official and Seb Stockbridge was reserve assistant referee. The final was broadcast live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports. Huddersfield adopted a 4–5–1 formation while Peterborough played as a 4–3–2–1.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
The match kicked off around 3 p.m. on 29 May 2011 at Old Trafford in front of 48,410 spectators. In the fifth minute, Mackail-Smith's shot was deflected by Kay onto the outside of Huddersfield's post from a tackle. Boyd then struck from around 30 yards (27 metres) but his shot was saved by Bennett. For Huddersfield, Peltier headed a Roberts pass over the Peterborough crossbar before Jones caught Clarke's on-target header.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
Benik Afobe, playing as a lone striker, then missed an opportunity for Huddersfield before Mackail-Smith was denied once again by Kay. Roberts' free-kick was then tipped round the post by Jones before Afobe struck wide from 8 yards (7.3 metres) from the resulting corner. Mackail-Smith then hit a shot wide while unmarked after receiving a pass from Boyd, and the half ended goalless.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
The first chance of the second half fell to McCann who struck a curling free-kick over the bar from around 20 yards (18 metres), before Ward's run down the wing ended with his shot striking the Peterborough crossbar. Kay then fouled Mackail-Smith, who was through on goal, and was shown a yellow card. In the 78th minute, Peterborough took the lead as Rowe's header from McCann's free-kick went into the Huddersfield net.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Match, Summary
In immediate response, Danny Cadamarteri was brought on for Ward as Huddersfield switched to two strikers, but Mackail-Smith doubled Peterborough's lead within two minutes, his shot deflecting into the goal off Kay. With five minutes remaining, McCann increased his side's lead with a long-range strike before Lee Tomlin's shot went over the Huddersfield crossbar. Peterborough won the match 3–0 and were promoted to the Championship.


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Post-match
Darren Ferguson, the Peterborough manager, was quick to praise his chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, noting "he's spent money, had a right go and had the bottle to get me back at the club". He also noted that his father, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, had not been present at the final, calling him a "jinx" and jokingly attributing Peterborough's semi-final first-leg loss to MK Dons to him. The Huddersfield manager Lee Clark said that the final score did not tell the whole story of the match: "It was just a crazy eight, ten minutes. For the first half-hour of the second half we dominated, but they had a set-piece expert ... I'm hurting for the owner, for the fantastic supporters".


2011 Football League One play-off Final, Post-match
Peterborough United ended their next season in 18th place in the Championship, four places and ten points above the relegation zone. Huddersfield Town finished their following season in fourth position in League One and qualified for the 2012 Football League play-offs where they met Sheffield United in the final, winning promotion to the Championship after a penalty shootout.


2011 Football League Trophy Final
The 2011 Football League Trophy Final was the 28th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from Football Leagues One and Two, the Football League Trophy. The final was played at Wembley Stadium in London on 3 April 2011. The match was contested between Brentford and Carlisle United. Carlisle United won the match 1–0. Peter Murphy scored the winning goal, turning in a corner kick in the twelfth minute. It was the Cumbrians' second win in six attempts.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final
The 2011 Football League Two play-off Final was an association football match which was played on 28 May 2011 at Old Trafford in Manchester, between Stevenage and Torquay United, to determine the fourth and final team to gain promotion from Football League Two to the League One. The top three teams of the 2010–11 Football League Two season, Chesterfield, Bury and Wycombe Wanderers, gained automatic promotion to League One, while those placed from fourth to seventh position took part in play-offs. The winners of the play-off semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2011–12 season in League One. Shrewsbury Town and Accrington Stanley were the defeated semi-finalists, losing to Torquay United and Stevenage respectively.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final
Darren Deadman was the referee for the final which was played in front of 11,484 spectators. Stevenage started the game strongly and in the 41st minute took the lead when Darius Charles passed to John Mousinho whose strike from 20 yards (18 m) flew into the bottom corner of the Torquay United goal. Jake Robinson's second-half shot hit the Stevenage crossbar and with no further goals the match ended 1–0 to Stevenage who secured back-to-back promotions.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final
Stevenage ended their following season in sixth place in League One and qualified for the 2012 play-offs where they lost 1–0 on aggregate to Sheffield United on aggregate in the semi-final. The next season, Accrington Stanley finished in fourteenth position in League Two.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
Stevenage finished the regular 2010–11 season in sixth place in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, one place and one point ahead of Torquay United (who had been deducted a single point for fielding an unregistered player). Both therefore missed out on the three automatic places for promotion to Football League One and instead took part in the play-offs to determine the fourth promoted team. Stevenage finished eleven points behind Wycombe Wanderers (who were promoted in third place), twelve behind Bury (promoted in second) and seventeen behind league winners Chesterfield.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
Torquay United's opponents for their play-off semi-final were Shrewsbury Town with the first match of the two-legged tie taking place at Plainmoor in Torquay on 14 May 2011. Torquay dominated the first half and took the lead in the 29th minute when Chris Zebroski scored following a pass from Gavin Tomlin. The home side doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time after Eunan O'Kane's 20-yard (18 m) strike beat the Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Ben Smith. After a goalless second half, the match ended 2–0 to Torquay United. The second leg was held six days later at New Meadow in Shrewsbury. Torquay United's goalkeeper Scott Bevan was forced to make a number of saves while his side also went close to scoring, but the deadlock failed to be broken. The match ended 0–0 and Torquay United progressed  to the final with a 2–0 aggregate victory.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
In the other semi-final, Stevenage faced Accrington Stanley and the first leg was played at Broadhall Way in Stevenage on 15 May 2011. Stacy Long opened the scoring for the home side with a 15-yard (14 m) strike which took a deflection off Sean Hessey before finding the Accrington Stanley net. Darius Charles's 30 yards (27 m) volley then hit the Accrington Stanley goalpost and rebounded to Joel Byrom who scored just before half time.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Route to the final
The visiting side went closest to scoring in the second half when Jimmy Ryan struck the ball against his teammate Sean McConville when the Stevenage goal was undefended, and the match ended 2–0. The return leg took place five days later at the Crown Ground in Accrington. After a goalless first half, two Accrington Stanley players were sent off: Joe Jacobson was dismissed for a late tackle on Lawrie Wilson before Sean McConville was shown the red card for lashing out after the initial sending-off. Chris Beardsley scored in the last minute of the match to secure a 1–0 win for Stevenage and progression to the final with a 3–0 aggregate victory.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
Due to the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final being held at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2011, it appeared that the three Football League play-off finals may have to be played at a different venue for the first time since 2007. Manchester United's Old Trafford had been confirmed as a possible alternative, while Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff were also under consideration to host the Championship, League One and League Two play-off finals. It was confirmed in January 2011 that Wembley would host the Championship play-off final on 30 May, while Old Trafford would host the League Two and League One finals on 28 and 29 May respectively.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
Stevenage were bidding for back-to-back promotions, as the season prior they had won the Conference Premier title with 99 points making the 2010–11 season their first season in the Football League. Manager Graham Westley was in his second spell as Stevenage manager. Stevenage secured a play-off place after a run of nine victories out of eleven, propelling the club up the league table and into the play-off positions. This included winning six games in a row, a sequence only matched by Bury during the regular season. A 3–3 draw on the last day of the season against Bury confirmed Stevenage's place in the play-offs, finishing sixth with 69 points.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
Torquay were aiming to return to League One, where they last played in the 2004–05 season. Having been relegated from the Football League in 2007, they returned two seasons later via the play-offs. Torquay went into the match having lost one of their last fourteen in all competitions, with seven clean sheets out of the last nine. Manager Paul Buckle was appointed in June 2007; his team lost the 2008 FA Trophy Final, but returned to Wembley one year later for play-off success against Cambridge United.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Background
In the meetings between the sides during the regular season, the match at Broadhall Way in September 2010 ended in a goalless draw while the game at Plainmoor the following March saw a 2–0 victory for Torquay United. Zebroski and Elliot Benyon were Torquay United's leading scorers during the regular season, both having scored a total of 14 goals in all competitions. Stevenage's top scorer going into the play-offs was Byron Harrison with 8 goals (all in the league).


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
The scheduled 3 p.m. kick off was delayed following a road traffic accident on the M6 motorway which held up the arrival of travelling supporters. The match finally got under way at 3:16 p.m. on 28 May 2011 and was refereed by Darren Deadman. Stevenage started the final the stronger side and after six minutes had the first opportunity to score. Darius Charles passed the ball in-field to Craig Reid but his shot from 12 yards (11 m) was blocked by Torquay United's Guy Branston.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Three minutes later, both Billy Kee and then Lee Mansell shot at the Stevenage goal but the ball was eventually cleared by Mark Roberts. Charles' pass then found John Mousinho on the edge of the Torquay United penalty area but his low shot was held by Bevan. Torquay United began to assert some pressure on Stevenage with a series of crosses, but failed to convert any of their opportunities to score. On the half-hour mark, Lawrie Wilson made a break and after Bevan failed to clear his cross, Charles struck the ball over the Torquay United crossbar.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Two minutes later, Reid's low shot was gathered by Bevan which was followed by a Stevenage free kick which was caught by the Torquay United goalkeeper. Tomlin was clear in the Stevenage box in the 37th minute but was tackled by Roberts, then Charles headed Long's cross into the ground and over the Torquay United bar. In the 41st minute, Stevenage took the lead when Charles passed to Mousinho whose strike from 20 yards (18 m) flew into the bottom corner of the Torquay United goal. Branston then headed a corner just wide for Torquay United and after one minute of stoppage time, the half was brought to a close.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Neither side made any changes to their personnel during the interval and the second half started with Torquay United applying pressure. Five minutes in, Kee was sent clear with a pass from Kevin Nicholson and went one-one-one with the Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day but his weak shot was deflected round the goalpost. In the 55th minute, Zebroski was shown the first yellow card of the match for foul on Roberts. Three minutes later, Stevenage made the first substitution of the match, with Darren Murphy replacing Byrom.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
Soon after, Mousinho was booked for time-wasting before Harrison was brought on by Stevenage as a substitute for Reid who had injured his hamstring. Charles then saw his low shot saved by Bevan before Zebroski's shot following an error from Roberts hit the side netting. Jake Robinson's 18-yard (16 m) strike was saved by Day and then Zebroski shot over the Stevenage bar. Murphy's close-range header went wide of the Torquay United goal before Robinson's shot hit the Stevenage crossbar.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Match, Summary
In the 79th minute, Joe Oastler came on to replace Damon Lathrope and was booked a minute later for a foul on Harrison. Three minutes later, Branston's initial shot from a Stevenage corner was blocked and he struck the rebound over the bar from around 12 yards (11 m). With seven minutes of regular time remaining, Torquay United made a double-substitution, with Danny Stevens and Lathaniel Rowe-Turner coming on for Robinson and Nicholson. Stevenage then brought Beardsley on to replace Charles. Stevens late shot for Torquay United was blocked and the match ended 1–0 to Stevenage who secured back-to-back promotions.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Post-match
The winning goalscorer Mousinho said: "It's incredible to be here at Old Trafford and to win through as well. From where we've come, to win back-to-back promotions is incredible. It was a long, long second half ... but we came through it." His manager Westley attributed his side's success to the effort they had put in during the season: "It's been a long, hard season ... The secret to success in any form of life is hard work and we've done that, put in the work." Two days after the final, Buckle left Torquay United to take up the vacant managerial role at Bristol Rovers. Two weeks later, Torquay United appointed Martin Ling as Buckle's replacement.


2011 Football League Two play-off Final, Post-match
Stevenage ended their following season in sixth place in League One and qualified for the 2012 League One play-offs where they lost 1–0 on aggregate to Sheffield United in the semi-final. The next season, Torquay United finished in fifth position in League Two and qualified for the 2012 League Two play-offs where they lost 4–1 on aggregate to Cheltenham Town in the semi-final.


2011 Football League play-offs
The Football League play-offs for the 2010–11 season were held in May 2011. The Championship final took place at Wembley Stadium in London, but the League One and Two finals were held at Old Trafford in Manchester, due to a clash with the UEFA Champions League Final.


2011 Football League play-offs
The play-off semi-finals were played over two legs, contested by the teams who finished in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place in the Football League Championship and League One and the 4th-, 5th-, 6th- and 7th-placed teams in the League Two table. The winners of the semi-finals went through to the finals, with the winner of the final gaining promotion for the following season.


2011 Football League play-offs
The semi-final matches were played from 12 to 20 May 2011. The finals were held between 28 and 30 May 2011.


2011 Football League play-offs, Background
The Football League play-offs have been held every year since 1987. They take place for each division following the conclusion of the regular season and are contested by the four clubs finishing below the automatic promotion places.


2011 Football League play-offs, League One, Semi-finals
Huddersfield Town 4–4 Bournemouth on aggregate. Huddersfield Town won 4–2 on penalties.


2011 Football NSW season
The 2011 Football NSW season was the penultimate season under the previous competition format in New South Wales. The competition consisted of four divisions across the State of New South Wales.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW Premier League
The 2011 NSW Premier League season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 26 March with the regular season concluding on 28 August 2011.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW Super League
The 2011 NSW Super League season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 12 March with the regular season concluding on 14 August 2011.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW Super League
NB Two matches were postponed and subsequently couldn't be played.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW State League Division 1
The 2011 NSW State League Division 1 season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 19 March with the regular season concluding on 21 August 2011.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW State League Division 2
The 2011 NSW State League Division 2 season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 12 March with the regular season concluding on 28 August 2011.


2011 Football NSW season, League Tables, 2011 NSW State League Division 2
NB Two matches were postponed and subsequently couldn't be played.


2011 Ford 400
The 2011 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race that was held on November 20, 2011, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. It was the thirty-sixth and final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The event aired on ESPN and Motor Racing Network. Carl Edwards entered the event with a three-point lead over Tony Stewart in the championship standings. Edwards won the pole and finished second, while Stewart won the race. This left the two drivers tied atop the standings, and Stewart was awarded the title on the tiebreaker of most wins (five to one).


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held. They were originally scheduled for the afternoon of Friday, November 18, but were moved to Saturday morning after Friday's schedule was washed out by rain. The first practice session was paced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a quick lap of 31.179 seconds for an average speed of 173.193 miles per hour (278.727 km/h). Championship contenders Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart were second and fifteenth on the chart, respectively. The second session was led by Edwards, whose quickest lap of the session was 31.556 seconds or 171.124 miles per hour (275.397 km/h). Stewart managed only 28th, over a half second slower than Edwards.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Practice and qualifying
Qualifying was held Saturday afternoon. Edwards claimed the pole position with a lap of 30.775 seconds or 175.467 miles per hour (282.387 km/h). Martin Truex Jr. qualified second, while Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. Stewart was ranked 15th.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
After pre-race ceremonies and pace laps, the green flag waved to start the race at 3:20 p.m. ET. Edwards immediately took the lead, claiming a bonus point toward the championship, while Stewart began working his way through the field, moving into the top ten by lap 11. The caution flag waved for the first time on lap 13 as a light rain began falling. During the ensuing round of pit stops, both Edwards and Stewart took two tires; Edwards retained the lead, while Stewart came out of the pits in eighth place.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
Three laps later, Stewart returned to pit road for repairs to his car's grille, leaving him in 40th place for the restart on lap 22. Stewart worked his way up to 27th within seven laps, and when a debris caution waved on lap 34, bragged over the radio that he was going to come back and win the race. The field hit pit road, and Edwards slipped to third position while Stewart's crew took extra time to work his car, sacrificing many of the positions gained since the first restart.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
The race was restarted on lap 37, and Edwards returned to the lead on lap 48, while Stewart charged through the field, working his way up to 12th by lap 68. During this run, the car of Edwards's Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Marcos Ambrose, developed engine problems, losing a cylinder. Green-flag pit stops began on lap 76. Steward pitted on lap 79, and Edwards hit pit road one lap later. Both took four tires and adjustments. The caution flew again on lap 83 as David Ragan, Edwards's teammate at Roush Fenway Racing, blew his engine. Edwards retook the lead when the final pitstops of the cycle were made under yellow, while Stewart took the lap 87 restart in 10th place. Stewart climbed to fifth by the time the race was stopped for rain after 109 laps.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
The rain delay lasted slightly over an hour, and the race resumed under the yellow flag at approximately 6:00 pm ET. After pit stops, Edwards restarted third, with Stewart right beside him in fourth. Stewart immediately took second and moved into the lead six laps later, claiming the lap leader bonus point for himself as well. The caution waved for debris on lap 133, and both championship contenders lost positions on pit stops. After a restart and another quick caution, Edwards restarted third, Stewart from ninth. Edwards dropped back and was passed by Stewart one lap later.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
On lap 142, the caution flew again when Jimmie Johnson spun at turn 4. Stewart took the lead by the time the caution waved again on lap 154. A slow pit stop dropped Stewart to ninth on the restart, and he quickly began moving back up. Stewart bumped Edwards as the two were racing for third position, prompting NASCAR officials to tell Stewart to cut it out. Edwards moved back into the lead on lap 176 as Stewart moved into third. By the time green-flag pit stops began on lap 190, Edwards had clinched a second bonus point for leading the most laps.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
Edwards pitted on lap 202, while Stewart gambled on fuel mileage by not pitting until lap 212, hoping to make that his last stop. One lap later, the yellow flew again for rain with Edwards in the lead. Edwards pitted again under the yellow, taking two tires and topping off his fuel tank so that he too could go the rest of the way. Officials finally declared the track dry and restarted the race on lap 231 with Stewart in third place.


2011 Ford 400, Race report, Race summary
With fresher tires than the cars in front of him, Stewart needed only one lap to retake the lead. Edwards moved into second three laps later, but could not catch Stewart as a result of Stewart having fresher left-side tires. Stewart won the race, with Edwards second, Truex Jr. third, Matt Kenseth fourth, and Jeff Gordon fifth.


2011 Fordham Rams football team
The 2011 Fordham Rams football team represented Fordham University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Rams were led by sixth year head coach Tom Masella and played their home games at Coffey Field. They are a member of the Patriot League.


2011 Fordham Rams football team
Fordham was not eligible for the Patriot League championship because they used scholarship players while the rest of the league's members did not.


2011 Fordham Rams football team
They finished the season 1–10, 0–6 in Patriot League play to finish in last place.


2011 Formula 3 Brazil Open
The 2011 Formula 3 Brazil Open was the second Formula 3 Brazil Open race held at Autódromo José Carlos Pace from January 20–23, 2011.


2011 Formula 3 Brazil Open
After perfect weekend of competition, the Brazilian Lucas Foresti of the Cesário Fórmula was crowned champion ahead of Yann Cunha competing for the Bassan Motorsport, Foresti team-mate Victor Guerin finished in third place. In Class B the Brazilian Raphael Abbatte was the winner.


2011 Formula 3 Euro Series
The 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series season was the ninth championship year of the Formula 3 Euro Series. It began on 2 April at Circuit Paul Ricard and finished on 23 October at Hockenheim after 21 races at nine meetings.


2011 Formula 3 Euro Series
Roberto Merhi, who participated his third season in series clinched title after home win at Valencia with a round to spare, bringing first Drivers' Championship for Prema Powerteam since 2003 and first title in the Teams' Standings. Second place for the second year in row went to Signature's Marco Wittmann, who took five wins. Merhi's compatriot and teammate Daniel Juncadella scored four races victories and managed third in drivers' standing. Also Juncadella and Merhi won Nations Cup.


2011 Formula 3 Euro Series
Best rookie of the season Nigel Melker took fourth place with four victories despite missing round Silverstone due to commitments in GP3 Series. His teammate Felix Rosenqvist finished fifth, winning penultimate race of the season at Hockenheim. Places six through eight went to Signature's drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Daniel Abt and Carlos Muñoz. Motopark's drivers Jimmy Eriksson and Kimiya Sato finished on ninth and tenth positions respectively.


2011 Formula 3 Euro Series, Drivers and teams
Competition numbers 30 and higher are single-race entrants and are ineligible to score championship points.


2011 Formula 3 Euro Series, Standings, Drivers' Championship
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.


2011 Formula 3 Sudamericana season
The 2011 Formula 3 Sudamericana season was the 25th Formula 3 Sudamericana season. It began on 21 March 2011, in Velopark, and ended on 17 December at Autódromo Internacional Orlando Moura in Campo Grande.


2011 Formula 3 Sudamericana season
In year most complicated of the category, Fabiano Machado dominated the Championship, winning 17 of the 25 races in a season where only he and one other driver, Ronaldo Freitas, competed in every race. Bruno Bonifacio dominated the Sudamericana Class B, winning 12 races.


2011 Formula Abarth season
The 2011 Formula Abarth season was the seventh season of the former Formula Azzurra, and the second under its guise of "Formula Abarth". It was the first split in European and Italian series.


2011 Formula Abarth season
The Italian Championship began on 17 April in Vallelunga, while European Championship on 8 May in Valencia. They finished together on 16 October in Monza.


2011 Formula Abarth season, Race calendar and results
On 19 November 2010, the calendar for both series was presented in a press conference held in Varano.


2011 Formula BMW Talent Cup
The 2011 Formula BMW Talent Cup was the first Formula BMW Talent Cup season. The series champion will receive a fully paid entry to the 2012 German Formula Three Championship.


2011 Formula D season
The 2011 Formula D season (officially titled Formula Drift Pro Championship) was the eighth  season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 9 in Long Beach and ended on October 8 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.


2011 Formula Future Fiat season
The 2011 Formula Future Fiat season was the second Formula Future Fiat season. It began on 27 March at Londrina and will end on October 30 at Velopark, after 12 races to be held at six meetings.


2011 Formula Future Fiat season
Guilherme Silva won the championship, taking two victories and four second places for a championship-winning margin of 7 points over runner-up Luir Miranda. Miranda talking two wins at Brasilía and Londrina. John Louis finished the season in third place, taking victories at first and second meetings at Interlagos, Londrina and Curitiba. Guilherme Salas and Victor Franzoni earned two wins each.


2011 Formula Future Fiat season, Drivers
All cars are powered by FPT engines and use Signatech chassis. All drivers were Brazilian-registered.


2011 Formula Lista Junior season
The 2011 Formula Lista Junior season was the twelfth Formula Lista Junior season. It began on 16 April at the Hockenheimring and ended on 25 September at Autodromo Nazionale Monza after twelve races. Philip Ellis won the drivers' championship and Daltec Racing won the teams' championship.


2011 Formula Nippon Championship
The 2011 Formula Nippon Championship was the 25th season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over seven rounds.


2011 Formula Nippon Championship, Teams and drivers
* Drivers who participated in the non-championship round at Fuji Speedway.


2011 Formula One World Championship
The 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 65th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The original calendar for the 2011 Formula One World Championship consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over from Bridgestone, marking their return to Formula One for the first time since the 1991 season. Red Bull Racing was the reigning Constructors' Champion.


2011 Formula One World Championship
Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel was the defending Drivers' Champion, one of five World Champions appearing on the grid. Vettel won his second World Championship at the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver, at 24 years and 98 days, to do so. Red Bull Racing won the Constructors' Championship.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers
After a dispute between the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and the FIA in the first half of 2009, a new Concorde Agreement was signed on 1 August 2009 by the then FIA president Max Mosley and all of the existing teams at the time. The new agreement provides for a continuation of the terms of the 1998 agreement, and runs until 31 December 2012. The FIA published a provisional entry list on 30 November 2010, which was revised on 2 December 2010. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers, New entries process
Following USF1's inability to make the grid in 2010, the FIA opened a new selection process to find an additional team to occupy the empty slot, as well as possible reserve entrants for the event of other withdrawals. Fifteen entry bids were reported to have been received, including ART Grand Prix, winners of several championships in feeder series; previous 2010 applicants Stefan Grand Prix and World Series by Renault team Epsilon Euskadi; and a joint effort by 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve with Durango, the former Italian GP2 team that had encountered financial difficulties. However, the number of applicants declined, as ART Grand Prix and Cypher, the renamed USF1 operation, withdrew their entries, and the FIA decided ahead of the 2010 Italian Grand Prix that none of the prospective entrants met the minimum funding or engineering requirements, leaving the grid slot vacant.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Teams and drivers, New entries process
Following the confirmation that there would be no new additions to the grid for 2011, Joan Villadelprat of Epsilon Euskadi and Jacques Villeneuve of the combined Villeneuve-Durango teams both announced that they would still attempt to join the grid for 2011, exploring the possibilities of taking over an existing team. Villeneuve later admitted to considering possibilities outside of Formula One, including extending his NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign, or moving to Australia to pursue opportunities in the V8 Supercars.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Season calendar
On 16 April 2010, Bernie Ecclestone confirmed that there would be twenty races in 2011; all the races from the 2010 season and the addition of the Indian Grand Prix. A provisional calendar was announced on 8 September 2010, which was confirmed on 3 November 2010. This was later revised to nineteen races with the postponement and later cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Pre-season
The pre-season testing season began immediately after the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a three-day 'Young Driver Test' (for drivers with fewer than three Formula One race starts to their name) at the Yas Marina Circuit. Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up Daniel Ricciardo consistently set the fastest times over the three days, driving for new champions Red Bull Racing.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Pre-season
The Young Driver Tests were followed by another testing session – also held at Yas Marina – for the teams to test the tyres developed by new tyre supplier Pirelli. Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the fastest during the tests, with many drivers declaring their satisfaction with the new tyres, particularly given Pirelli's short development window. Sebastian Vettel experienced an explosive puncture on the final day, though an investigation by Pirelli attributed the incident to debris on the circuit rather than a critical error with the build of the tyre.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Pre-season
The final test of the season was originally scheduled to be held in Bahrain, but was cancelled by the Bahraini Crown Prince due to a political uprising in the island nation. It was instead rescheduled to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona from 8–12 March.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Defending World Champion Sebastian Vettel won the opening race of the season in Melbourne after qualifying on pole position by eight-tenths of a second. Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, and Russian driver Vitaly Petrov attained his maiden podium in third, with Renault hailing his dramatic off-season turn-around after a difficult debut season in 2010. At the opposite end of the grid, the Hispania F111 cars driven by Narain Karthikeyan and Vitantonio Liuzzi both failed to qualify as their qualifying times were both outside 107% of Vettel's fastest time in the first qualifying session. The Saubers of Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi were disqualified for a technical infringement when their cars failed a post-race scrutineering inspection.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel continued his title defence in Malaysia, taking pole from Hamilton in the dying moments of the session by just one tenth of a second. Vettel went on to win the race by three seconds from Jenson Button, who also claimed second place in the points standings; with two wins, Vettel left Malaysia with twice as many points as the McLaren driver. Nick Heidfeld took Renault's second successive podium and Fernando Alonso made a mistake, making contact with Lewis Hamilton and forcing him to pit for a new front wing, and costing him a potential podium. Hamilton himself slipped down the order after changing to the harder prime tyres and struggling with grip.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel once again took pole in China, whilst teammate Webber made a poor tyre choice and was eliminated from the first qualifying period for the first time since the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel made a poor start in the race and was quickly overcome by the McLarens of Button and Hamilton. Button and Vettel pitted together, but Button made a bizarre mistake, mistakenly pulling up in the Red Bull pits, and allowing Vettel to get back out onto the circuit in front of him. The lead changed several times as the race progressed before Vettel settled into position, but on deteriorating tyres, he was caught and passed by Hamilton four laps from the end. Having started in eighteenth position, Mark Webber recovered to achieve the third podium place.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Sebastian Vettel earned his fourth pole of the season in Turkey, becoming the first person to start the first four races on pole since Mika Häkkinen in 1999. Vettel led the race from the lights to the flag, ahead of Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso, who gained Ferrari's first podium finish of the year. McLaren struggled with a series of slow pit stops, whilst the promise shown by Mercedes in qualifying was lost in the race when their cars were fuel-heavy and running on the harder prime tyre compound.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Mark Webber ended Vettel's run of consecutive pole positions at the Spanish Grand Prix, but it was fourth-starting Fernando Alonso that led the field into the first corner and through much of the early phase of the race. He was eventually overtaken in the pits by Vettel, and slipped down the order to finish a lap behind as Ferrari struggled with Pirelli's brand-new "extra hard" compound, which was specifically designed for endurance, but was two seconds per lap slower than the softer compounds used.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel went on to win the race, but Red Bull's one-second advantage in qualifying was gone by the race as Lewis Hamilton spent most of the final stint within one second of the lead. After making a poor start and slipping down to tenth place, Jenson Button used a three-stop strategy to recover to third place.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
The Monaco Grand Prix was marred by a string of accidents throughout the weekend that saw two drivers hospitalised; Sergio Pérez crashed heavily at the Nouvelle Chicane in the final qualifying period and suffered a concussion, while Vitaly Petrov was briefly knocked unconscious in a five-car pile-up late in the race that saw the red flags waved and the race stopped for the first time since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel achieved both pole position and the race win ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, who had been rapidly catching the race leaders at the time of the race stoppage.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel took his sixth pole of the season in Montreal, with the race severely affected by rain. The early stages of the race saw Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton collide on the pit straight, and Button earning a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car after it was deployed to retrieve the stricken McLaren of Hamilton. On lap twenty-five, the race was stopped for two hours in the face of a torrential downpour that made the circuit undriveable.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
When the race was finally resumed, a narrow dry line began to appear around the circuit, and Button began to work his way through the field, having run as low as twenty-first and last place after his penalty. With four laps to go, Button had passed Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher for second place and was catching Vettel at a rate that meant he would only catch the championship leader on the final lap. Vettel ran wide and off the dry line of the final lap of the race, handing Button the race win. Schumacher matched his best race result since returning to the sport, with a fourth place. At Sauber, Sergio Pérez elected not to compete after reporting that he felt unwell during the first practice session, and he was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Pirelli's medium-compound tyre made its race debut in Valencia, which once again saw Vettel on pole. There was much speculation about the potential for the field to be shaken up by the introduction of engine mapping bans, but the reigning champion led for most of the race, ceding the lead only when called in to pit. He comfortably gained his sixth victory of the season when the leaders moved onto the medium compound tyres, with second-placed Fernando Alonso demonstrating that the Ferrari 150º Italia was unable to use the medium tyres as efficiently as the Red Bull RB7. With all twenty-four cars finishing the race, Hispania Racing's Narain Karthikeyan became the first man in the sport's history to finish a Grand Prix in twenty-fourth position as the race broke the record for the most classified finishers; the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix had previously seen twenty-three classified finishers.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Uncertainty over rule changes and exemptions concerning the use of off-throttle blown diffusers dominated off-track discussion at the British Grand Prix, though consensus within the media was that the issue did not directly affect the sport. Mark Webber started from pole position in the race; however, Sebastian Vettel took the lead on the first lap. A mistake from Red Bull Racing in the pits allowed Fernando Alonso to take control of the race, which he went on to win by sixteen seconds, his first victory since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Webber caught Vettel in the dying stages of the race, but was given a late team order to maintain his position, and the Australian finished third behind his teammate. Felipe Massa was similarly catching Lewis Hamilton, whose progress had been hampered by an order to conserve fuel, for fourth position and the two made contact in the penultimate corner on the last lap, forcing Massa to run wide over the finish line. Jenson Button fell from second to fifth place in the championship when a wheel nut was improperly attached to his car during his final stop, forcing his retirement from the race.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Webber achieved his second successive pole position in Germany, while Hamilton denied Red Bull a front-row lock-out by qualifying second. Vettel was third, the first time he had qualified outside the front row since the 2010 Italian Grand Prix almost one year previously. Hamilton took the lead going into the first corner of the race, and the early stages of the Grand Prix were marked by the drivers attempting to find grip on an unusually cold circuit. As Hamilton, Alonso and Webber pulled away, Vettel struggled to match their pace following a spin at turn ten.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Michael Schumacher had an identical episode at the same corner a few laps later, whilst Sébastien Buemi and Nick Heidfeld collided at the chicane, ending Heidfeld's race. There were multiple lead changes between Hamilton, Webber and Alonso, with Hamilton capitalising on a slow in-lap by Alonso and a strategy error from Red Bull to secure victory. Alonso placed second, with Webber third, while Sebastian Vettel stole fourth away from Felipe Massa when the two drivers pitted on the final lap.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel returned to pole position in Hungary; however, Lewis Hamilton qualified second and was able to save an extra set of softer option tyres for the race. After mixed conditions wreaked havoc in the support races, the Grand Prix started with a wet surface. Vettel established an early lead, but was soon passed by Hamilton and Jenson Button as a dry line appeared. The positions remained constant through the halfway point of the race while Team Lotus experienced their second double-retirement in three races and Nick Heidfeld's Renault exploded after a prolonged pit stop.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
A mid-race shower on the fortieth lap led to Hamilton spinning, forcing Force India's Paul di Resta off the circuit and allowing Button to close the gap. The two McLaren drivers traded places several times in the greasy conditions, with Hamilton leading long enough to give him the first strategy call within the team. He opted to swap to the intermediate tyres, but the track started to dry out and he was given a drive-through penalty for forcing di Resta off the circuit, taking him out of contention for a podium finish.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Jenson Button went on to win the race, his 200th Grand Prix start and the scene of his maiden victory ahead of Vettel in second and Fernando Alonso. Hamilton recovered from his penalty to take fourth position from Mark Webber, whilst Felipe Massa – who had out-qualified Alonso for the first time since the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix – was the final car classified on the lead lap in sixth place.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
The Belgian Grand Prix marked twenty years since Michael Schumacher's Formula One debut, but Schumacher had a difficult start to the weekend when he lost a wheel on his out-lap in qualifying, sending him to the back of the grid. Bruno Senna replaced Nick Heidfeld at Renault, qualifying seventh in variable conditions on his return to Formula One. However, his success was short-lived when he crashed into Jaime Alguersuari on the first lap, ending Alguersuari's race and earning himself a penalty.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Nico Rosberg led the early stages of the race, but was powerless to defend against Sebastian Vettel once the DRS was activated. The lead changed several times in the first half of the race, but Vettel eventually established a comfortable lead and would remain unchallenged. With Vettel winning the race and Webber finishing second, Red Bull secured their first one-two victory since Istanbul. Despite leading the race at one point, Fernando Alonso struggled with his tyres, and slipped down the running order, being passed by Mark Webber and Jenson Button, who had recovered from thirteenth on the grid.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Michael Schumacher also recovered; having started twenty-fourth on the grid, he was fifth at the end of the race, behind Alonso and ahead of Rosberg. Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the race early on, making contact with Kamui Kobayashi at Les Combes. Both Senna and Hamilton admitted responsibility for their respective incidents.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
At the Italian Grand Prix, Vettel took once again pole position, beating Hamilton by half a second, but it was the fourth-starting Fernando Alonso who led the race going into the first corner. Vitantonio Liuzzi made contact with Kovalainen and lost control, sliding off the grass and crashing heavily into Rosberg and Petrov and triggering the safety car. Vettel took the lead from Alonso one lap after the restart, while Schumacher overtook Hamilton. Mark Webber attempted to pass Felipe Massa, but the two made contact, pitching Massa into a spin.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Webber continued with a broken front wing, crashing at Parabolica as he attempted to return to pit. Further down the order, Schumacher received several carefully worded instructions from team principal Ross Brawn, reminding him not to cut across the track to defend against Hamilton. Schumacher's duel with Hamilton slowed them down enough for Jenson Button to catch up; where Hamilton took thirty laps to pass Schumacher, Button passed him on his first attempt and started catching the second-placed Alonso.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Vettel went on to win the race, extending his lead enough that he would need just one more win to win his second World Championship. Webber's failure to finish meant that he fell to fourth in the drivers' standings, behind Alonso and Button, while Hamilton's fourth place meant he fell further behind in the championship.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Sebastian Vettel obtained his eleventh pole of the season in Singapore, and spent most of the race unchallenged. Jenson Button attempted a late push, but was held up by traffic in the final laps of the race and fell behind. Button's podium meant that the championship would remain unresolved for the time being, but with his ninth victory of the season, Sebastian Vettel closed to within one point of securing his second World Drivers' Championship and becoming the sport's youngest-ever double World Champion. Mark Webber completed the podium in third, while Fernando Alonso finished fourth, over a minute behind Vettel.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
An early collision with Felipe Massa meant Lewis Hamilton was handed a drive-through penalty – his sixth of the season – and slipped out of the points, but a mid-race safety car for a collision involving Michael Schumacher and Sergio Pérez helped Hamilton recover to fifth. However, the end result meant that Webber, Alonso and Hamilton were all eliminated from the championship fight.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
The championship came to a head in Japan, with Sebastian Vettel out-qualifying championship rival Jenson Button by just nine thousandths of a second. Vettel forced Button wide at the start, but the McLaren driver was able to recover, under-cutting Vettel in the pits during the second round of stops. Button went on to win the race, his third victory of the season, while Fernando Alonso finished second. Vettel completed the podium, securing his second World Drivers' Championship. Mark Webber finished the race fourth, with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Michael Schumacher defending from Felipe Massa to finish sixth. Nico Rosberg secured the final World Championship point in by finishing tenth, having started twenty-third on the grid.


2011 Formula One World Championship, Report
Lewis Hamilton and McLaren ended Red Bull's monopoly on pole position at the Korean Grand Prix, with Hamilton edging out Champion-elect Vettel by two-tenths of a second. Vettel seized the lead early in the race, and remained unthreatened for the rest of the race. Hamilton engaged in a race-long duel with Mark Webber, with the Australian following an unusual strategy choice. He was unable to pass Hamilton, who collected his first podium position since his victory in the German Grand Prix. Jenson Button finished the race fourth ahead of Fernando Alonso. In finishing first and third, Red Bull secured their second consecutive World Constructors' Championship.