2010–11_Premier_Reserve_League
2010–11 Premier Reserve League
Football league season
The 2010–11 Premier Reserve League (officially known as the 2010–11 Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the twelfth season since the establishment of the Premier Reserve League. The season began on 25 August 2010.[1] and ended on 16 May 2011 with Chelsea's reserves beating Blackburn Rovers Reserves 5–4 in a penalty shoot-out after the final had ended 1–1 after extra time.
The events in the senior leagues during the 2009–10 season saw Burnley, Hull City and Portsmouth all relegated and replaced by the promoted teams Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion and Blackpool. In addition, Birmingham City,[2] Stoke City,[3] and Fulham[4] decided to opt out of the 2010–11 reserve season.
That resulted in 2 major changes to the 2010–11 season. With the Southern section now only containing six teams, the Northern section was broken into two groups. Group A consisted of Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, and Wigan Athletic. Group B consisted of Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Everton, Liverpool, and Sunderland.
The second big change was to the fixture schedule. Each team played the teams in their own group twice (home and away) and played the teams from the other groups once. This meant each Northern side played a total of 19 games and the Southern sides played 20 games during the regular season.
At the conclusion of the league season, the two Northern winners faced a play off against each other with the winner facing the Southern champions in a one-off final.
