Review Of The Year - Sportsmail Looks Back At An Action-packed 2011: November
Review of the year - Sportsmail looks back at an action-packed 2011: November
By [/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Sportsmail+Reporter Sportsmail Reporter] Updated: 23:54 BST, 29 December 2011
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As the year draws to a close, Sportsmail takes a look back at 2011 to remind you what happened over the last action-packed 12 months.
Football was rocked by news of Gary Speed's death in November while three Pakistan cricket stars were jailed and Frank Lampard was the England hero against Spain.
Catch up on what you missed with our superb guide.
NOVEMBER
1st Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif were found guilty by a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to accept corrupt payments, following a plot to bowl no-balls to order during the Lord's Test against England last summer.
Asif's new-ball partner Mohammad Aamer had pleaded guilty to the same charges in October.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they were launching a formal investigation having assessed allegations that Chelsea captain John Terry racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during the Barclays Premier League match between the sides on October 23.
Terry denied the allegations.
Chelsea and Arsenal were held to draws by Genk and Marseille respectively as they failed to secure their qualification for the Champions League knockout phase, with Group H pair Barcelona and AC Milan becoming the first qualifiers.
2nd The Rugby Football Union confirmed Martyn Thomas would step down as their acting chief executive at the end of his contract on December 16.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp underwent a minor heart procedure to unblock two coronary arteries.
Yaya Toure scored twice as Manchester City beat Villarreal 3-0 to boost their Champions League qualification hopes, while Manchester United enjoyed a routine 2-0 win over Otelul Galati.
Real Madrid became the third team to qualify for the last 16 after beating Lyon 2-0.
Jailed: Salman Butt (left), Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer (right)
3rd Former Test captain Salman Butt was jailed for 30 months for his part in a conspiracy to bowl deliberate no-balls against England.
Teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamer was jailed for six months while former world No 2 Test bowler Mohammad Asif was jailed for one year. Cricket agent Mazhar Majeed was jailed for two years and eight months.
In the Europa League, Fulham beat Wisla Krakow 4-1, Stoke won 2-1 at Maccabi Tel Aviv and Celtic defeated Rennes 3-1. Tottenham went down 1-0 at Rubin Kazan while Birmingham drew 2-2 with Club Brugge.
Harry Redknapp returned home after being released from hospital following a heart procedure.
4th The Football Association confirmed they would appeal against the three-match ban that threatened to rule Wayne Rooney out of the entire Euro 2012 group phase.
Australia's multiple Olympic champion Ian Thorpe finished seventh in the 100m individual medley final at the World Cup event in Singapore on his comeback to competitive swimming.
England captain Andrew Strauss branded international cricket's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit 'a toothless tiger'. Strauss was concerned that the spot-fixing scandal which saw three Pakistan players jailed was uncovered by the News of the World rather than the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit.
5th Tiger Woods's former caddie Steve Williams apologised for comments made about his former employer which he admitted could be 'construed as racist'.
Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years in charge of Manchester United with a 1-0 win over Sunderland, but his side remained five points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City who beat QPR 3-2.
Australia beat England 36-20 at Wembley to reach the final of rugby league's Four Nations.
Race row: Tiger Woods (left) and Steve Williams
6th Daniel Sturridge and Jack Rodwell were handed their first England call-ups by Fabio Capello for the friendlies with Spain and Sweden.
Hibernian sacked manager Colin Calderwood the day after a 1-0 loss to Dunfermline following little more than a year in the post.
Bolton recorded their first Barclays Premier League home win of the season in emphatic fashion as they thrashed Stoke 5-0 at the Reebok Stadium.
7th Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll revealed he would undergo shoulder surgery that was expected to rule him out for up to six months.
Wigan's Antolin Alcaraz was charged with spitting at an opponent during the club's 3-1 defeat at Wolves.
Wigan centre Joel Tomkins switched rugby codes to join Saracens.
8th It was announced that Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez would not contest the club's ruling that he was guilty of misconduct in the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.
The club confirmed that defender Kolo Toure had accepted a fine of six weeks' wages relating to his failed drug test.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score 15,000 runs in Test match cricket, passing the landmark against the West Indies.
Antolin Alcaraz was handed a three-match ban after accepting a Football Association misconduct charge for spitting at an opponent during a match at Wolves.
9th England players were told they would be permitted to wear poppies on their black armbands in a friendly against Spain after FIFA agreed a compromise with the Football Association. FIFA had earlier said a poppy tribute would not be allowed on shirts during the match but a compromise deal was reached following intervention by Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William.
Manchester City's Carlos Tevez failed to report for duty at the club's Carrington training ground, two days after the unsettled striker flew back to Argentina to see his family.
Scotland forward Nathan Hines announced his retirement from international rugby after 11 years in the Test arena.
10th Australia were bowled out for just 47 in the second innings of the first Test against South Africa, requiring a final-wicket stand of 25 to avoid the lowest ever score in Test cricket.
Newcastle announced that St James' Park had been renamed as the Sports Direct Arena as they began to seek a naming rights partner for the stadium.
Old Trafford, Wembley and the Millennium Stadium were named as the venues for the men's football matches during the 2012 Olympics.
11th The Republic of Ireland beat Estonia 4-0 in the first leg of their Euro 2012 qualification play-off in Tallinn.
London was awarded the right to host the 2017 World Championships following a vote of the IAAF council in Monaco.
The Gold Coast in Australia was announced as host for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
12th Stand-in captain Frank Lampard scored the only goal of the game as England beat world champions Spain 1-0 in an international friendly at Wembley.
England booked their place in the Gillette Four Nations final with a 28-6 win over New Zealand at the KC Stadium.
Usain Bolt was named the IAAF's male athlete of the year despite his disqualification from the 100m final at the World Championships.
13th Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after benefiting from Sebastian Vettel's first retirement in 20 races, the German suffering a puncture on only the third corner of the race.
Roger Federer ended Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's hopes of claiming the Paris Masters on home turf with a clinical performance that saw him take a 69th career title with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) win.
Former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, 55, was found dead in South Africa where had had been working as a journalist covering Australia's tour, with police treating the death as suicide.
14th England http://centaur.yes270.com/home.php?mod=space&uid=420348&do=profile&from=space and Wasps back row Joe Worsley retired due to a neck injury.
The ICC confirmed England would not host the Test Championship in 2013, delaying it until 2017.
Wimbledon women's champion Petra Kvitova was named WTA Player of the Year.
What a night: Frank Lampard scored as England beat Spain at Wembley
15th The Republic of Ireland qualified for Euro 2012 after a 1-1 draw against Estonia in Dublin saw them win their play-off tie 5-1 on aggregate.
Portugal, Croatia and Czech Republic also confirmed their places at the Euro 2012 finals following play-off successes.
England beat Sweden for the first time in 43 years thanks to a Daniel Majstorovic own goal at Wembley.
16th Martin Johnson confirmed he was standing down as England coach.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter started a storm of controversy by suggesting racist abuse between players could be solved with a handshake at the end of the match.
The FA charged Liverpool striker Luis Suarez with racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during a match at Anfield on October 15.
Suarez continued to deny the allegation.
17th Sepp Blatter remained defiant in the face of criticism as even Prime Minister David Cameron attacked him over his remarks about racism.
The telephone records of the vice-chairman of a leading soccer club were 'unlawfully obtained by subterfuge' - and copies found their way into the hands of accountants 'engaged' by a rival club, a High Court judge said.
The appeal against England striker Wayne Rooney's three-match ban was brought forward by a day so he could attend the hearing in Switzerland.
18th Sepp Blatter said sorry for his comments on racism but stressed he would not resign in an interview with the BBC.
Six Caribbean football officials were banned for periods of between seven days and two years for violating ethics rules, FIFA said.
The Bulgarian Football Union were fined 40,000 euros (£34,000) by UEFA for incidents during the Euro 2012 qualifier against England on September 2.
19th South Africa-born former England all-rounder Basil D'Oliveira died at the age of 80 after a long battle against Parkinson's disease.
D'Oliveira made headlines in 1968 when he was included in the England squad for the tour of South Africa which had to be called off as the South African government refused to accept his presence.
Australia beat England 30-8 in the Gillette Four Nations Series final at Elland Road.
Jordan Rhodes hit a brace as League One Huddersfield beat Notts County 2-1 and set a new record of 43 league games unbeaten.
20th Glen Johnson scored the winner against his old club as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Stephen Donald enjoyed a successful home debut for Bath, with the New Zealand World Cup winner helping them to a Heineken Cup victory over Montpellier.
Nigel Pearson's return to Leicester started with a win as they beat Crystal Palace 3-0 thanks to a Paul Gallagher double and a goal from Jermaine Beckford.
21st The Serious Fraud Office were asked to investigate allegations that FIFA members asked for money and an honour during England's bid for the 2018 World Cup.
The British Olympic Association were left isolated in their determination to maintain a lifetime ban for drugs cheats after Canada and New Zealand dropped their own rule preventing doping offenders representing their teams at the next Games.
Harry Redknapp enjoyed a successful return to the Tottenham dugout as his side moved into third place in the Barclays Premier League table with an easy win over Aston Villa at White Hart Lane.
Remembered: Leeds fans left tributes to Gary Speed outside Elland Road
22nd Manchester City's hopes of progressing in the Champions League were hit by a 2-1 defeat away to Napoli, while Manchester United drew 2-2 with Benfica to leave them facing a winner-takes-all last group game against Basle.
Andy Murray pulled out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London because of a groin injury.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was fined £12,000 and warned as to his future conduct following his comments after the Barclays Premier League match against QPR in October.
23rd The Times published leaked extracts from a damning dossier exposing the rifts and failings that contributed to England's 'doomed' bid for World Cup glory in New Zealand.
Arsenal beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in their Champions League Group F match at the Emirates Stadium to secure their place in the knockout phase.
Chelsea lost 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in their Champions League Group E match at the BayArena.
24th Defiant Rob Andrew vowed not to resign despite admitting the Rugby Football Union had reached 'rock bottom' following the leaking of confidential World Cup reports.
Meanwhile, Brian Smith resigned as England's attack coach.
Top players should not be obliged to provide information on their whereabouts to drug testers for 365 days a year, FIFA's medical chief said.
Winger Sone Aluko joined Rangers until the end of the season after compensation was agreed with former club Aberdeen.
25th Manchester United confirmed midfielder Anderson would be out of action until February with a knee injury.
Hibernian announced the appointment of former Bohemians boss Pat Fenlon as their new manager on a two-and-a-half year deal.
England's Lewis Moody and Courtney Lawes had their fines for wearing branded mouthguards at the World Cup reduced to £7,500 and £6,500 respectively.
The pair were originally fined £10,000 for breaking commercial rules in the quarter-final loss to France.
26th Chelsea beat Wolves 3-0 in the Barclays Premier League, while Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw against Newcastle after Demba Ba's controversial penalty.
Tottenham beat West Brom 3-1 while Arsenal drew 1-1 with Fulham, Thomas Vermaelen scoring at both ends.
Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Mark Webber and Jenson Button.
QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny was ruled out for up to two months with a strained muscle in his side.
27th Wales manager Gary Speed was found dead at his family home in Chester. Speed was found hanged after apparently taking his own life.
Red Bull's Mark Webber won the Brazilian Grand Prix ahead of world champion and team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Jenson Button.
Liverpool held Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, Joleon Lescott's own goal cancelling out centre-half partner Vincent Kompany's opener.
Swansea and Aston Villa drew 0-0 earlier in the day.
28th Tributes poured in for Gary Speed from around the world.
England rugby union player Mike Tindall was reinstated to the elite player squad and had his fine cut from £25,000 to £15,000 following an appeal.
Charlton ended Huddersfield's record 43-game unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory in League One.
29th Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni signed a contract extension until the 2014 World Cup.
Tributes were paid to Gary Speed at matches around the country, including at Cardiff, where the Bluebirds beat Blackburn to reach the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, and at the City Ground, where his first club Leeds beat Nottingham Forest 4-0.
Liverpool and Manchester City also reached the last four of the Carling Cup, beating Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.
30th The Rugby Football Union announced elite rugby director Rob Andrew would be appointed as the organisation's professional rugby director.
Sunderland sacked manager Steve Bruce after a poor start to the season.
West Brom confirmed midfielder Zoltan Gera would miss the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.
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