2015–16 Football League One

Football League One

Season	2015–16
Champions	Wigan Athletic
Promoted	Wigan Athletic
Relegated	Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Doncaster Rovers
Matches played	322
Goals scored	1374 (4.27 per match)
Top goalscorer	Will Grigg (23 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Jon McLaughlin (21 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Chesterfield 7–1 Shrewsbury Town (2 Jan) Coventry City 6–0 Bury (13 Feb)
Biggest away win	Crewe Alexandra 0–5 Coventry City (2 Jan)
Longest winning run	Barnsley (7 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Wigan Athletic (20 matches)
Longest winless run	Colchester United (19 matches)
Longest losing run	Colchester United (9 matches)
Highest attendance	24,777[1] Sheffield United 3–1 Bradford City (28 December 2015)
Lowest attendance	1,767[2] Rochdale 1–0 Fleetwood Town (23 February 2016)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 Football League One (referred to as the Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) is the 12th season of the Football League One under its current title and the 23rd season under its current league division format. The season began on 8 August 2015, and will conclude on 7 May 2016.^[3]

Changes from last season

Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2014–15 season.

To League One Promoted from League Two Burton Albion Shrewsbury Town Bury Southend United Relegated from Championship Millwall Wigan Athletic Blackpool

From League One Relegated to League Two Notts County Crawley Town Leyton Orient Yeovil Town Promoted to Championship Bristol City Milton Keynes Dons Preston North End

Team overview

Stadia and locations

Barnsley

Blackpool

Bradford City

Burton Albion

Chesterfield

Colchester United

Coventry City

Crewe Alexandra

Doncaster Rovers

Fleetwood Town

Gillingham

Greater Manchester

Millwall

Peterborough United

Port Vale

Scunthorpe United

Sheffield United

Shrewsbury Town

Southend United

Swindon Town

Walsall

Greater Manchester teams

Bury
Oldham Athletic
Rochdale
Wigan Athletic

Locations of teams in the 2015–2016 Football League One

Bury

Oldham Athletic

Rochdale

Wigan Athletic

Greater Manchester League One football clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity[4]
Barnsley	Barnsley	Oakwell	23,009
Blackpool	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	16,750
Bradford City	Bradford	Valley Parade	25,136
Burton Albion	Burton-upon-Trent	Pirelli Stadium	6,912
Bury	Bury	Gigg Lane	12,500
Chesterfield	Chesterfield	Proact Stadium	10,400
Colchester United	Colchester	Weston Homes Community Stadium	10,105
Coventry City	Coventry	Ricoh Arena	32,500
Crewe Alexandra	Crewe	Gresty Road	10,066
Doncaster Rovers	Doncaster	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231
Fleetwood Town	Fleetwood	Highbury Stadium	5,311
Gillingham	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium	11,582
Millwall	London (South Bermondsey)	The Den	20,146
Oldham Athletic	Oldham	Boundary Park	13,309
Peterborough United	Peterborough	Abax Stadium	14,319
Port Vale	Stoke-on-Trent	Vale Park	18,947
Rochdale	Rochdale	Spotland Stadium	10,249
Scunthorpe United	Scunthorpe	Glanford Park	9,183
Sheffield United	Sheffield	Bramall Lane	32,702
Shrewsbury Town	Shrewsbury	New Meadow	9,875
Southend United	Southend	Roots Hall	12,392
Swindon Town	Swindon	County Ground	15,728
Walsall	Walsall	Bescot Stadium	11,300
Wigan Athletic	Wigan	DW Stadium	25,138

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Blackpool	Lee Clark	Resigned	9 May 2015[5]	Pre-season	Neil McDonald	2 June 2015[6]
Chesterfield	Paul Cook	Signed by Portsmouth	12 May 2015[7]		Dean Saunders	13 May 2015[8]
Sheffield United	Nigel Clough	Sacked	25 May 2015[9]		Nigel Adkins	2 June 2015[10]
Peterborough United	Dave Robertson		6 September 2015[11]	20th	Graham Westley	21 September 2015[12]
Doncaster Rovers	Paul Dickov		8 September 2015[13]	17th	Rob Jones (interim)	8 September 2015[14]
Oldham Athletic	Darren Kelly		12 September 2015[15]	19th	David Dunn (interim)	13 September 2015[15]
Oldham Athletic	David Dunn (interim)	Change of contract	7 October 2015[16]	18th	David Dunn	7 October 2015[16]
Doncaster Rovers	Rob Jones	End of interim	16 October 2015	20th	Darren Ferguson	16 October 2015[17]
Chesterfield	Dean Saunders	Sacked	28 November 2015	16th	Danny Wilson	24 December 2015[18]
Walsall	Dean Smith	Signed by Brentford	30 November 2015	4th	John Ward (interim)	30 November 2015[19]
Burton Albion	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	Signed by QPR	4 December 2015[20]	1st	Nigel Clough	5 December 2015[21]
Walsall	John Ward (interim)	End of interim	18 December 2015	3rd	Sean O'Driscoll	18 December 2015[22]
Oldham Athletic	David Dunn	Sacked	12 January 2016	22nd	John Sheridan	13 January 2016[23]
Barnsley	Lee Johnson	Signed by Bristol City	6 February 2016[24]	12th	Paul Heckingbottom (caretaker)	12 February 2016
Walsall	Sean O'Driscoll	Sacked	6 March 2016[25]	4th	John Whitney (interim)	7 March 2016[26]
Peterborough United	Graham Westley	Sacked	23 April 2016[27]	14th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Wigan Athletic (P)	45	24	15	6	81	41	+40	87	Promotion to Football League Championship
2	Burton Albion (X)	45	25	9	11	57	37	+20	84
3	Walsall (X)	45	23	12	10	66	49	+17	81	Qualification for League One play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
4	Millwall (Q)	45	23	9	13	71	48	+23	78
5	Bradford City (Q)	45	22	11	12	53	40	+13	77
6	Barnsley	45	21	8	16	66	53	+13	71
7	Scunthorpe United	45	20	11	14	58	47	+11	71
8	Gillingham	45	19	12	14	70	54	+16	69
9	Coventry City	45	18	12	15	65	49	+16	66
10	Sheffield United	45	18	12	15	64	57	+7	66
11	Rochdale	45	18	12	15	66	60	+6	66
12	Port Vale	45	18	11	16	56	53	+3	65
13	Peterborough United	45	18	6	21	77	72	+5	60
14	Southend United	45	16	11	18	56	61	−5	59
15	Bury	45	15	12	18	53	71	−18	57
16	Swindon Town	45	15	11	19	61	71	−10	56
17	Oldham Athletic	45	12	18	15	44	56	−12	54
18	Chesterfield	45	15	8	22	58	68	−10	53
19	Shrewsbury Town	45	13	11	21	58	76	−18	50
20	Fleetwood Town	45	11	15	19	50	56	−6	48
21	Blackpool	45	12	10	23	39	58	−19	46	Relegation to Football League Two
22	Doncaster Rovers (R)	45	11	12	22	48	64	−16	45
23	Colchester United (R)	45	9	13	23	56	97	−41	40
24	Crewe Alexandra (R)	45	7	13	25	46	81	−35	34

Updated to match(es) played on 2 May 2016. Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated; (X) Assured of at least a play-off place and may still qualify for automatic promotion.
Notes:

1. Four teams play for one spot and promotion to Football League Championship.

Play-offs

The play-offs are played between the teams that finish from third to sixth with the winning team gaining the final promotion spot to the Championship. The play-off semi-finals will see the sixth placed team play the third placed team and the fifth placed team play the fourth placed team. The team that finishes in the lower position will play at home in the first leg then play away in the second leg. If the aggregate score is level after both legs, then extra time will be played. If the scores are still level, a penalty shoot-out will decide the winner. The away-goals rule does not apply in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals will be held on 14-15 and 19–20 May.^[28] The winners from the two semi-finals will play at Wembley Stadium on 29 May 2016 in the play-off final.^[28]

Results

Home ╲ Away

BAR

BLP

BRA

BRT

BRY

CHF

COL

COV

CRE

DON

FLE

GIL

MIL

OLD

PET

PTV

ROC

SCU

SHU

SHR

STD

SWI

WAL

WIG

Barnsley

4–2

0–0

1–0

3–0

1–2

2–2

2–0

1–2

1–0

0–1

2–0

2–1

2–1

1–0

1–2

6–1

0–0

1–1

1–2

0–2

4–1

0–2

0–2

Blackpool

1–1

0–1

1–2

1–1

2–0

0–1

0–1

2–0

0–2

1–0

1–0

1–1

0–0

2–0

0–1

0–2

5–0

0–0

2–3

2–0

1–0

0–4

0–4

Bradford City

0–1

1–0

2–0

2–1

1–2

0–0

2–0

2–1

2–1

1–2

1–0

1–0

0–2

1–0

2–2

1–0

2–2

1–1

2–0

1–0

4–0

1–1

Burton Albion

0–0

1–0

3–1

1–1

1–0

5–1

1–2

0–0

3–3

2–1

2–1

2–1

0–0

2–1

2–0

1–0

2–1

0–0

1–2

1–0

1–0

0–0

1–1

Bury

0–0

4–3

0–0

1–0

1–0

5–2

2–1

0–0

1–0

3–4

0–1

1–3

1–1

3–1

1–0

0–0

1–2

1–0

2–2

2–2

2–3

2–2

Chesterfield

3–1

1–1

0–1

1–2

3–0

3–3

1–1

3–1

1–1

0–0

1–3

1–2

1–2

0–1

4–2

0–0

0–3

0–3

7–1

3–0

0–4

1–4

2–3

Colchester United

2–3

2–2

2–0

0–3

0–1

1–1

1–3

2–3

4–1

1–1

2–1

0–0

0–0

1–4

2–1

2–2

1–2

0–0

0–2

1–4

4–4

3–3

Coventry City

4–3

0–0

1–0

0–2

6–0

1–0

0–1

3–2

2–2

1–2

4–1

2–1

1–1

3–2

1–0

0–1

1–2

3–1

3–0

2–2

0–0

1–1

2–0

Crewe Alexandra

1–2

1–2

0–1

1–1

3–3

1–2

1–1

0–5

3–1

1–1

0–1

1–3

1–0

1–5

0–0

2–0

2–3

1–0

1–2

1–2

1–3

1–1

1–1

Doncaster Rovers

2–1

0–1

0–1

1–1

3–0

2–0

2–0

3–2

2–0

2–2

1–1

1–1

1–2

1–2

0–2

0–1

0–1

0–1

0–0

2–2

1–2

3–1

Fleetwood Town

0–2

0–0

1–1

4–0

2–0

0–1

4–0

0–1

0–0

2–1

2–1

1–1

2–0

1–2

1–1

2–1

2–2

0–0

1–1

5–1

0–1

1–3

Gillingham

2–1

2–1

3–0

0–3

3–1

1–2

1–0

0–0

3–0

1–0

5–1

3–3

2–1

0–2

2–0

2–1

4–0

2–3

1–1

0–0

1–2

2–0

Millwall

2–3

3–0

0–0

2–0

1–0

0–2

4–1

0–4

1–1

2–0

1–0

0–3

3–0

3–0

3–1

3–1

0–2

1–0

3–1

0–2

2–0

0–1

0–0

Oldham Athletic

1–2

1–0

1–2

0–1

0–1

1–0

1–1

1–0

1–2

1–0

2–1

1–2

1–5

1–1

2–3

2–4

1–1

1–1

2–5

2–0

1–0

1–1

Peterborough United

3–2

0–4

0–1

2–3

2–0

2–1

3–1

3–0

4–0

2–1

1–1

5–3

1–2

2–3

1–2

0–2

1–3

1–1

0–0

1–2

1–1

2–3

Port Vale

0–1

2–0

1–1

0–4

1–0

3–2

2–0

1–1

3–0

3–0

0–0

1–1

0–2

1–1

1–1

4–1

1–1

2–1

2–0

3–1

1–0

3–2

Rochdale

3–0

3–0

1–3

2–1

3–0

2–3

3–1

0–0

2–2

2–2

1–0

1–1

0–1

0–0

2–0

2–1

2–1

2–0

3–2

4–1

2–2

1–2

0–2

Scunthorpe United

2–0

0–1

0–2

1–0

2–1

1–1

3–0

1–0

2–0

2–0

1–0

0–0

0–0

1–1

0–4

1–0

1–1

0–1

2–1

1–0

6–0

0–1

1–1

Sheffield United

0–0

2–0

3–1

0–1

1–3

2–0

2–3

1–0

3–2

3–1

3–0

0–0

1–2

3–0

2–3

1–0

3–2

2–4

2–2

1–1

2–0

0–2

Shrewsbury Town

0–3

2–0

1–1

0–1

2–0

1–2

4–2

2–1

0–1

1–2

1–1

2–2

1–2

0–1

3–4

1–1

2–0

2–2

1–2

1–2

0–1

1–3

1–5

Southend United

2–1

1–0

0–1

3–1

4–1

0–1

3–0

3–0

1–1

0–3

2–2

1–1

0–4

0–1

2–1

1–0

2–2

2–1

3–1

0–1

0–1

0–2

0–0

Swindon Town

0–1

3–2

4–1

0–1

0–1

1–0

1–2

2–2

4–3

2–0

1–1

1–3

2–2

1–2

1–2

2–2

2–1

2–1

0–2

4–2

2–1

1–4

Walsall

1–3

1–1

2–1

2–0

0–1

1–2

2–1

2–1

1–1

2–0

3–1

3–2

0–3

1–1

2–0

2–0

0–3

0–0

1–1

2–1

1–0

1–1

1–2

Wigan Athletic

0–1

1–0

0–1

3–0

3–1

5–0

1–0

1–0

0–0

2–1

3–2

2–2

0–0

1–1

3–0

1–0

3–0

3–3

1–0

4–1

1–0

0–0

Updated to games played on 2 May 2016.
Source: BBC Sport
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of 30 April 2016

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[29]
1	Will Grigg	Wigan Athletic	24
2	Nicky Ajose	Swindon Town	22
3	Billy Sharp	Sheffield United	21
4	Adam Armstrong	Coventry City	19
	Patrick Madden	Scunthorpe United
	Sam Winnall	Barnsley
7	Lee Gregory	Millwall	17
8	Tom Bradshaw	Walsall	15
	Leon Clarke	Bury
	Steve Morison	Millwall

Monthly Awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Reference
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Dean Smith	Walsall	Adam Armstrong	Coventry City	[30][31]
September	Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink	Burton Albion	Peter Vincenti	Rochdale	[32][33]
October	Mark Robins	Scunthorpe United	Aiden O'Brien	Millwall	[34][35]
November	Graham Westley	Peterborough United	Jacob Murphy	Coventry City	[36][37]
December	Nigel Adkins	Sheffield United	Andy Williams	Doncaster Rovers	[38][39]
January	Lee Johnson	Barnsley	Sam Winnall	Barnsley	[40][41]
February	Gary Caldwell	Wigan Athletic	Jordan Archer	Millwall	[42][43]
March	Paul Heckingbottom	Barnsley	Sullay Kaikai	Shrewsbury Town	[44][45]

References

1. "Sheffield United 3-1 Bradford City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
2. "Rochdale 1-0 Fleetwood Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
3. "The 2015–16 fixture list has been released by the FA". The FA. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
4. "Football Ground Guide". Football Ground Guide. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
5. "Lee Clark leaves Blackpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
6. "Blackpool: Neil McDonald named Seasiders manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
7. "Portsmouth appoint Chesterfield boss as manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
8. "Dean Saunders: Chesterfield appoint interim Crawley boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
9. "Nigel Clough: Sheffield United sack manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
10. "Adkins appointed". Sheffield United. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
11. "Dave Robertson: Peterborough United sack manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
12. "Graham Westley: Peterborough United name ex-Stevenage boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
13. "Paul Dickov: Doncaster sack manager after poor start to season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
14. Doncaster Rovers sack Paul Dickov with Rob Jones taking charge on temporary basis
15. "Oldham Athletic: David Dunn replaces sacked Darren Kelly". BBC Sport. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
16. Oldham Athletic: David Dunn appointed permanent manager
17. Darren Ferguson appointed new Doncaster Rovers manager
18. Danny Wilson: Chesterfield appoint ex-Barnsley manager
19. Dean Smith leaves Walsall to take Brentford job
20. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: QPR appoint Burton manager as boss
21. Nigel Clough set to return as Burton Albion manager
22. Sean O'Driscoll: Walsall name new head coach to replace Dean Smith
23. "John Sheridan: Oldham reappoint Newport County manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
24. "Lee Johnson: Bristol City appoint Barnsley boss as head coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
25. "Sean O'Driscoll: Walsall part company with head coach after 16 games". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
26. "Walsall: Jon Whitney to take charge following Sean O'Driscoll sacking". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
27. "Graham Westley: Peterborough United part with manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
28. "Dates confirmed for Sky Bet Football League Play-Offs". The Football League. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
29. "League One Top Scorers". Retrieved 28 February 2016.
30. "Dean Smith named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
31. "Adam Armstrong named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
32. "Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
33. "Peter Vincenti named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
34. "Mark Robins named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
35. "Aiden O'Brien named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
36. "Graham Westley named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
37. "Jacob Murphy named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
38. "Nigel Adkins named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
39. "Andy Williams named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
40. "Lee Johnson named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
41. "Sam Winnall named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
42. "Gary Caldwell named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
43. "Jordan Archer named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
44. "Paul Heckingbottom named Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
45. "Sullay Kaikai named Sky Bet League 1 Player of the Month". Football League. Retrieved 19 April 2016.