The 2011–12 1. FC Köln season began on 31 July 2011 against Wiedenbrück 2000 in a DFB-Pokal 1st round match. They club played its home matches at the RheinEnergieStadion.

For the season, the club hired Ståle Solbakken as its new head coach. The board of directors announced their resignation at the annual general meeting. Speculation concerning Lukas Podolski's future at 1. FC Köln has been written about a lot during the season. 1. FC Köln were eliminated from the DFB-Pokal in the 2nd Round. The club was in tenth place halfway through the season. The club went to Portimão, Portugal, during the winter break. Unfortunately, the team had an alarming slump in form in the second half of the season, coinciding with news that their star player Lukas Podolski had signed for Arsenal on 30 April and would join the team on 1 July. They were officially relegated from the Bundesliga after their 4–1 home loss to second-placed Bayern Munich on 5 May on the final day of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season.

Prior to the last match of last season, 1. FC Köln hired Ståle Solbakken as their new head coach. He previously coached Copenhagen. Also on the last matchday of last season, Petit tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Schalke 04 and has yet to debut this season.

Arsenal defeated 1. FC Köln 2–1. On 25 July, Solbakken named Pedro Geromel captain.Lukas Podolski was Geromel's predecessor.

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