2011–12 Premiership Rugby
The 2011–12 Aviva Premiership was the 25th season of the top flight of the English domestic rugby union competitions and the second to be sponsored by Aviva. It began on 3 September with five matches, including the annual London Double Header at Twickenham, and ended with the final on 26 May, also at Twickenham.
The champions were Harlequins, who claimed their first-ever top-flight title after defeating Leicester Tigers in the final; Quins also finished atop the table in the home-and-away season.
The season's defending champions, Saracens, lost in the semi-finals to Leicester. Worcester Warriors were the newcomers for this season, after having earned promotion by winning the 2010–11 RFU Championship play-offs against Cornish Pirates; they successfully avoided relegation. Newcastle Falcons finished on the bottom of the 2011–12 table and were relegated to the RFU Championship. The Falcons relegation was confirmed when London Welsh, who won the Championship, successfully appealed the decision of the Rugby Football Union that they did not meet the standards for promotion.
The 2011–12 season was the first for a major change in the Premiership's salary cap, which at the time stood at £4 million per team. In what is now a permanent feature of the cap system, academy credits were introduced. Each team receives a £30,000 credit for every home-grown player in their senior squad, with a maximum of eight such credits. In addition, a standard provision of the cap system that applies only in seasons that run up against the Rugby World Cup provided each team with a credit of £30,000 for each senior squad player that participated in the World Cup.
Teams
| Club | Coach | Captain | Kit Supplier | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
| Bath |  Ian McGeechan |  Stuart Hooper | Puma | The Recreation Ground | 12,300 | Bath, Somerset |
| Exeter Chiefs | Rob Baxter |  Tommy Hayes | Samurai Sportswear | Sandy Park | 10,744 | Exeter, Devon |
| Gloucester | Vacant |  Luke Narraway | KooGa | Kingsholm Stadium | 16,500 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Harlequins | Conor O'Shea | Chris Robshaw | O'Neills | Twickenham Stoop | 14,600 | Twickenham, London |
| Leicester Tigers | Richard Cockerill |  Geordan Murphy | Cotton Traders | Welford Road | 24,000 | Leicester, Leicestershire |
| London Irish |  Toby Booth |  Clarke Dermody | ISC | Madejski Stadium | 24,250 | Reading, Berkshire |
| London Wasps |  Dai Young |  Marco Wentzel | Canterbury of New Zealand | Adams Park | 10,516 | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire |
| Newcastle Falcons | Peter Russell | James Hudson | Orion Teamwear | Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear |
| Northampton Saints | Jim Mallinder | Dylan Hartley | BURRDA | Franklin's Gardens | 13,600 | Northampton, Northamptonshire |
| Sale Sharks |  Bryan Redpath |  Sam Tuitupou | Cotton Traders | Edgeley Park | 10,852 | Stockport, Greater Manchester |
| Saracens | Mark McCall | Steve Borthwick | Nike | Vicarage Road | 19,920 | Watford, Hertfordshire |
| Worcester Warriors | Richard Hill | Shaun Perry | Cotton Traders | Sixways Stadium | 12,068 | Worcester, Worcestershire |
;Notes
Table
Pre-Season
The 2011 edition of the Premiership Rugby Sevens Series began on 15 July 2011 at The Recreation Ground, continued on 22 July at Franklin's Gardens and 29 July at Edgeley Park. This was the first opportunity of the season for any of the teams competing in the Premiership to win a trophy. The finals were held on 5 August 2011 at The Stoop and the Series was won by Newcastle Falcons.Regular season
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
Round 18
Round 19
Round 20
Round 21
Round 22
Play-offs
Semi-finals
----Final
Total Season Attendances
| Club | Home Games | Total | Average | Highest | Lowest | % Capacity |
| Bath | 11 | 129,864 | 11,806 | 12,200 | 10,085 | 96% |
| Exeter Chiefs | 11 | 91,546 | 8,322 | 10,744 | 5,405 | 77% |
| Gloucester | 11 | 149,532 | 13,594 | 16,121 | 10,864 | 82% |
| Harlequins | 12 | 220,106 | 18,342 | 82,000 | 10,526 | 87% |
| Leicester Tigers | 12 | 247,931 | 20,661 | 24,000 | 17,227 | 86% |
| London Irish | 11 | 157,741 | 14,340 | 55,437 | 6,333 | 44% |
| London Wasps | 11 | 74,195 | 6,745 | 10,516 | 5,078 | 64% |
| Newcastle Falcons | 11 | 61,300 | 5,573 | 10,172 | 3,250 | 55% |
| Northampton Saints | 11 | 145,648 | 13,241 | 13,475 | 12,542 | 97% |
| Sale Sharks | 11 | 86,903 | 7,900 | 10,149 | 5,926 | 73% |
| Saracens | 11 | 196,278 | 17,843 | 83,761 | 5,799 | 41% |
| Worcester Warriors | 11 | 112,250 | 10,205 | 12,024 | 7,965 | 85% |