The campaign featured Tottenham's 10th appearance in the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup), entering the Play-off Qualifying round due to finishing fifth in the 2010–11 Premier League season. They reached the group stage by defeating Hearts over two legs, but finished third in their group and therefore didn't make the knockout stages of the tournament. The club entered the League Cup in the third round and were defeated by Stoke City on penalties, as well as the FA Cup where they reached the semi-finals but were defeated 5–1 by Chelsea.
Tottenham finished the season in fourth place after occupying third place for the majority of the season. Their last game of the Premier League season was a 2–0 victory against Fulham.
This was the first season not to feature Robbie Keane since 2001–02 and 2008–09 who departed to join LA Galaxy, although Keane returned for his second spell from Liverpool during the following campaign
