# 2011–12 Wigan Athletic F.C. season

The 2011–12 English football season is Wigan Athletic's seventh consecutive season in the Premier League. The club also competed in the League Cup and the FA Cup.
At the end of the 2011–12 Premier League, Wigan Athletic finished in 15th place, two points below 14th-placed Stoke City. Wigan's last game of the Premier League season was a 3–2 victory against already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.

## Season review
### Summary

Wigan Athletic had a tough season, spending much of it in the relegation zone and often in the bottom two. They had eight consecutive losses, between 10 September and 6 November, until earning a draw against fellow strugglers Blackburn Rovers on 19 November. Wigan were rock-bottom from 15 October to 26 November, when winning against Sunderland. They started to improve afterwards, accumulating some points during the Christmas period, but returned to losing ways with four-straight losses, all in January. Once again, after the defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on 31 January, Wigan were bottom in the table. After winning against fellow strugglers Wanderers, Wigan remained bottom on goal difference.
In March, Wigan greatly improved, first losing against Swansea City but earning draws against Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion. But it was from late March onwards when Wigan completely transformed themselves. They earned wins against Liverpool and Stoke City before a controversial 2–1 defeat against Chelsea, where both of Chelsea's goals were from an offside position. Nevertheless, Wigan were in very strong form and made history after beating Manchester United for the first time. This was followed by their first-ever away win against Arsenal, a defeat to Fulham and their biggest win in the Premier League, a 4–0 demolition of Newcastle United (who were chasing UEFA Champions League football). On 7 May, in their penultimate game of the season, Wigan defeated Blackburn to retain their Premier League status and seal Blackburn's relegation. Their last game of the season was a 3–2 win against fellow relegated side Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wigan recorded seven wins in their last nine matches.

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 13 | Sunderland | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 45 | 46 | −1 | 45 |
| 14 | Stoke City | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 45 |
| 15 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 62 | −20 | 43 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 38 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 37 | 53 | −16 | 38 |
| 17 | Queens Park Rangers | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 43 | 66 | −23 | 37 |

## Competitions
### Premier League

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | D | W | D | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W |
| Position | 8 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 |

### FA Cup
## Players
### Captains

| No. | P | Name | Country | No. games | Notes |
| 5 | DF | Gary Caldwell | | 37 | Club captain |
| 3 | DF | Antolín Alcaraz | | 1 | |
Last updated: 6 June 2011 Source: Competitive match reports. Competitive matches only Matches started as captain only Country: FIFA nationality; No.: Squad number; P: Position; Name: Player name; No. Games: Number of games started as captain.

### First team squad

| No. | Name | Position (s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Chris Kirkland | GK | (1981-05-02) 2 May 1981 (age 43) | Liverpool |
| 12 | Mike Pollitt | GK | (1972-02-29) 29 February 1972 (age 52) | Rotherham United |
| 13 | Lee Nicholls | GK | (1992-10-05) 5 October 1992 (age 32) | Youth system |
| 26 | Ali Al-Habsi | GK | (1981-12-30) 30 December 1981 (age 42) | Bolton Wanderers |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Steve Gohouri | DF | (1981-02-08) 8 February 1981 (age 43) | Borussia Mönchengladbach II |
| 3 | Antolín Alcaraz | DF | (1982-07-30) 30 July 1982 (age 42) | Club Brugge |
| 5 | Gary Caldwell | DF | (1982-04-12) 12 April 1982 (age 42) | Celtic |
| 17 | Emmerson Boyce | DF | (1979-09-24) 24 September 1979 (age 45) | Crystal Palace |
| 22 | Patrick van Aanholt | DF | (1990-08-29) 29 August 1990 (age 34) | Chelsea |
| 23 | Ronnie Stam | DF | (1984-06-18) 18 June 1984 (age 40) | Twente |
| 24 | Adrian López | DF | (1987-02-25) 25 February 1987 (age 37) | Deportivo La Coruña |
| 31 | Maynor Figueroa | DF | (1983-05-02) 2 May 1983 (age 41) | Olimpia |
| 39 | Jordan Mustoe | DF | (1991-01-28) 28 January 1991 (age 33) | Youth system |
| 41 | Daniel Redmond | DF | (1991-03-02) 2 March 1991 (age 33) | Youth system |
| 43 | Adam Buxton | DF | (1992-05-12) 12 May 1992 (age 32) | Youth system |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 4 | James McCarthy | MF | (1990-11-12) 12 November 1990 (age 33) | Hamilton Academical |
| 6 | Hendry Thomas | MF | (1985-02-23) 23 February 1985 (age 39) | Olimpia |
| 7 | Albert Crusat | MF | (1982-05-13) 13 May 1982 (age 42) | Almería |
| 8 | Ben Watson | MF | (1985-07-09) 9 July 1985 (age 39) | Crystal Palace |
| 10 | Shaun Maloney | MF | (1983-01-24) 24 January 1983 (age 41) | Celtic |
| 14 | Jordi Gómez | MF | (1985-05-24) 24 May 1985 (age 39) | Espanyol |
| 16 | James McArthur | MF | (1987-10-07) 7 October 1987 (age 37) | Hamilton Academical |
| 19 | David Jones | MF | (1984-11-04) 4 November 1984 (age 39) | Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 21 | Mohamed Diamé | MF | (1987-06-14) 14 June 1987 (age 37) | Rayo Vallecano |
| 22 | Jean Beausejour | MF | (1984-06-01) 1 June 1984 (age 40) | Birmingham City |
| 30 | Nouha Dicko | MF | (1992-05-14) 14 May 1992 (age 32) | Strasbourg |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | Franco Di Santo | FW | (1989-04-07) 7 April 1989 (age 35) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Victor Moses | FW | (1990-12-12) 12 December 1990 (age 33) | Crystal Palace |
| 15 | Callum McManaman | FW | (1991-04-25) 25 April 1991 (age 33) | Youth system |
| 18 | Conor Sammon | FW | (1986-11-06) 6 November 1986 (age 37) | Kilmarnock |
| 20 | Hugo Rodallega | FW | (1985-07-25) 25 July 1985 (age 39) | Necaxa |

### Appearances and goals

    As of 1 June 2012
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | CIV | Steve Gohouri | 10 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | PAR | Antolín Alcaraz | 25 | 2 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | IRL | James McCarthy | 34 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Gary Caldwell | 37 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | HON | Hendry Thomas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | ESP | Albert Crusat | 16 | 1 | 4+11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Ben Watson | 23 | 3 | 14+7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | ARG | Franco Di Santo | 33 | 5 | 24+8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | SCO | Shaun Maloney | 15 | 3 | 8+5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | NGA | Victor Moses | 39 | 6 | 36+2 | 6 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Mike Pollitt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Lee Nicholls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Jordi Gómez | 29 | 5 | 24+4 | 5 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | ENG | Callum McManaman | 4 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | SCO | James McArthur | 33 | 3 | 18+13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | BRB | Emmerson Boyce | 27 | 3 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | IRL | Conor Sammon | 27 | 1 | 8+17 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ENG | David Jones | 17 | 0 | 13+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | COL | Hugo Rodallega | 23 | 2 | 11+12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | SEN | Mohamed Diamé | 26 | 3 | 18+8 | 3 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | CHI | Jean Beausejour | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | NED | Ronnie Stam | 20 | 0 | 13+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ESP | Adrián López | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | OMA | Ali Al-Habsi | 40 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | FRA | Nouha Dicko | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | HON | Maynor Figueroa | 39 | 0 | 37+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 39 | DF | ENG | Jordan Mustoe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | ENG | Daniel Redmond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | DF | ENG | Adam Buxton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players that played for Wigan this season that have left the club: ||||||||||||
| 22 | DF | NED | Patrick van Aanholt | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Position | Number | Name | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| FW | 9 | Franco Di Santo | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| FW | 11 | Victor Moses | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| MF | 14 | Jordi Gómez | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| MF | 8 | Ben Watson | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| DF | 5 | Gary Caldwell | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| MF | 21 | Mohamed Diamé | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| MF | 16 | James McArthur | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| MF | 10 | Shaun Maloney | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| DEF | 17 | Emmerson Boyce | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| FW | 20 | Hugo Rodallega | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| DF | 3 | Antolín Alcaraz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MF | 7 | Albert Crusat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| FW | 15 | Callum McManaman | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Totals | 41 | 1 | 1 | 43 |

### Disciplinary record

    Includes all competitive matches
    Last updated 20 April 2012
| Number | Position | Name | Premiership | Premiership | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| 5 | DF | Gary Caldwell | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | Steve Gohouri | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 18 | FW | Conor Sammon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | MF | James McCarthy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | Maynor Figueroa | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Antolín Alcaraz | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Mohamed Diamé | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Jordi Gómez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Franco Di Santo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | James McArthur | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Victor Moses | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Ronnie Stam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Emmerson Boyce | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | David Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Ben Watson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | Ali Al-Habsi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Jean Beausejour | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Albert Crusat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Adrián López | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Shaun Maloney | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | Callum McManaman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Hugo Rodallega | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Hendry Thomas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 61 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 3 |

### Suspensions served

| Date | Matches Missed | Player | Reason | Opponents Missed |
| 24 September 2011 | 3 | Steve Gohouri | Sent off vs Tottenham Hotspur | Aston Villa (A), Bolton Wanderers (H), Newcastle United (A) |
| 29 October 2011 | 1 | Gary Caldwell | Reached five yellow cards | Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) |
| 7 November 2011 | 3 | Antolín Alcaraz | FA Charge – Spitting offense | Blackburn Rovers (H), Sunderland (A), Arsenal (H) |
| 26 December 2011 | 3 | Conor Sammon | Sent off vs Manchester United | Stoke City (A), Sunderland (H), Swindon Town (A) |
| 31 December 2011 | 1 | Gary Caldwell | Sent off vs Stoke City | Sunderland (H) |
| 11 February 2012 | 1 | James McCarthy | Reached five yellow cards | Aston Villa (H) |
| 7 April 2012 | 1 | Maynor Figueroa | Reached five yellow cards | Manchester United (H) |
* ^1 The red card was successfully appealed and the punishment wasn't served.