Reading won the 2011-12 EFL Championship promotion and relegation race on 89 points, 1 point ahead of Southampton. It came down to the final days: Reading did not lead for good until April 13, 2012. Portsmouth, Coventry City and Doncaster Rovers finished in the relegation places.
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EFL Championship standings, 2011-12
Team
W
D
L
GD
PTS
L10
Streak
Reading (REA)
27
8
11
+28
89
7-1-2
L1
Southampton (SOU)
26
10
10
+39
88
6-1-3
W1
West Ham United (WHU)
24
14
8
+33
86
5-4-1
W2
Birmingham City (BIR)
20
16
10
+27
76
4-5-1
W1
Blackpool (BLP)
20
15
11
+20
75
5-4-1
D1
Cardiff City (CAR)
19
18
9
+13
75
4-6-0
W1
Middlesbrough (MID)
18
16
12
+1
70
2-5-3
L1
Hull City (HUL)
19
11
16
+3
68
3-1-6
L1
Leicester City (LEI)
18
12
16
+11
66
4-3-3
W1
Brighton & Hove Albion (BHA)
17
15
14
0
66
1-5-4
D3
Watford (WAT)
16
16
14
-8
64
4-5-1
W1
Derby County (DER)
18
10
18
-8
64
4-3-3
D1
Burnley (BUR)
17
11
18
+3
62
3-4-3
D1
Leeds United (LEE)
17
10
19
-3
61
2-2-6
L1
Ipswich Town (IPS)
17
10
19
-8
61
3-4-3
W1
Millwall (MIL)
15
12
19
-2
57
6-2-2
D1
Crystal Palace (CRY)
13
17
16
-5
56
1-3-6
L1
Peterborough United (PET)
13
11
22
-10
50
2-3-5
D2
Nottingham Forest (NFO)
14
8
24
-15
50
4-3-3
W1
Bristol City (BRC)
12
13
21
-24
49
3-6-1
D1
Barnsley (BAR)
13
9
24
-25
48
1-2-7
D1
Portsmouth (POR)
13
11
22
-9
40
4-1-5
L2
Coventry City (COV)
9
13
24
-24
40
2-4-4
L3
Doncaster Rovers (DON)
8
12
26
-37
36
1-2-7
L1
The three dashed lines are the automatic promotion pace (2nd), the play-off pace (6th), and the relegation line.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 12 times.
Reading trailed by as many as 18 points on November 5, 2011.
Reading took first place for good on April 13, 2012.
Reading won 8 games in a row from January 28, 2012 to March 10, 2012, the longest run of the race.
Southampton led by 5 points as late as March 30, 2012.
Reading went 6-0-1 from November 25, 2011 to December 31, 2011, turning a deficit of 18 points into a deficit of 8 points.
The top two ended the day within three points of each other on 82 of the 102 days played.
Eight teams held first place.
Reading spent 17 of the season's 268 charted days in first place.