2011–12 Football League Championship
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Barnsley Mark Robins Resigned 15 May 2011 Pre-season Keith Hill 1 June 2011
West Ham United Avram Grant Sacked 15 May 2011 Pre-season Sam Allardyce 1 June 2011
Cardiff City Dave Jones Sacked 30 May 2011 Pre-season Malky Mackay 17 June 2011
Nottingham Forest Billy Davies Sacked 12 June 2011 Pre-season Steve McClaren 13 June 2011
Birmingham City Alex McLeish Signed by Aston Villa 17 June 2011 Pre-season Chris Hughton 22 June 2011
Watford Malky Mackay Signed by Cardiff City 17 June 2011 Pre-season Sean Dyche 21 June 2011
Doncaster Rovers Sean O'Driscoll Sacked 23 September 2011 24th Dean Saunders 23 September 2011
Nottingham Forest Steve McClaren Resigned 2 October 2011 21st Steve Cotterill 14 October 2011
Bristol City Keith Millen Mutual consent 3 October 2011 24th Derek McInnes 19 October 2011
Portsmouth Steve Cotterill Signed by Nottingham Forest 14 October 2011 18th Michael Appleton 10 November 2011
Leicester City Sven-Göran Eriksson Mutual consent 24 October 2011 13th Nigel Pearson 15 November 2011
Hull City Nigel Pearson Signed by Leicester City 15 November 2011 9th Nick Barmby 10 January 2012
Leeds United Simon Grayson Sacked 1 February 2012 10th Neil Warnock 18 February 2012
Hull City Nick Barmby Sacked 8 May 2012 Pre-season Steve Bruce 8 June 2012
Birmingham City Chris Hughton Signed by Norwich City 7 June 2012 Pre-season Lee Clark 26 June 2012
Watford Sean Dyche Sacked 2 July 2012 Pre-season Gianfranco Zola 7 July 2012
Team overview -- Personnel and sponsoring
The 2011-12 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the league under its current title and nineteenth season under its current league division format. Reading secured the Championship title on 21 April, following second-placed Southampton's 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough. The result left Southampton four points behind Reading with only one game remaining. Southampton were promoted on the final day of the season, after winning 4-0 at home to Coventry City, who were one of three teams relegated along with Portsmouth (who were deducted ten points midway through the season for entering administration) and Doncaster Rovers. West Ham United occupied the final promotion place as they returned to the Premier League after just one year. West Ham beat Blackpool in the Play-off final at Wembley Stadium, sealing their return to the top division after narrowly missing out on automatic promotion.