page_title: Kieran Gibbs
section_title: 2011–12 season
hierarchical_section_title: Kieran Gibbs / Club career / Arsenal / 2011–12 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal, taken during the match vs. Swansea, September 10 2011,
context_page_description: Kieran James Ricardo Gibbs is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion and the English national team.
  Gibbs began his senior career with Arsenal in 2007, after joining the club from the Wimbledon academy in 2004. He began as a winger and moved to left back after a loan spell with Norwich City during the same 2007–08 season where he made his Arsenal debut. He made his full England debut in a friendly against Hungary at Wembley Stadium on 11 August 2010.
context_section_description: Following the departure of Gaël Clichy to Manchester City, Wenger confirmed that Gibbs would be replacing Clichy as first-choice left back.
  On 20 September 2011, Gibbs scored his first goal for Arsenal in the 33rd minute of a League Cup match against Shrewsbury Town. On 16 October 2011 in the 2–1 victory over Sunderland, Gibbs suffered a stomach problem five minutes into the second half and was replaced by André Santos. On 17 November, Gibbs underwent hernia surgery and was expected to be out for up to six weeks.
  Gibbs returned to training on 31 January 2012. Gibbs made his first start since October against Milan in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, although he played a fine match, Arsenal lost 4–0.
  Gibbs made his first start since October in the Premier League in the North London derby against Spurs which Arsenal won 5–2. He scored his first league goal for Arsenal on 24 March 2012 in a 3–0 win against Aston Villa at the Emirates. On 13 May 2012 against West Bromwich Albion, the last match of the season, Gibbs came on as a substitute for Gervinho in the 67th minute and made a crucial sliding tackle to prevent Billy Jones from scoring an equaliser in the dying minutes. The match ended 3–2 to Arsenal which secured Arsenal's 3rd-place finish ahead of rivals Tottenham.
caption: Gibbs playing for Arsenal in 2011
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