2015–16 Welsh Premier League

Welsh Premier League
Season 2015-16
Champions The New Saints (10th title)
Relegated Rhyl
Haverfordwest County
Matches played 180
Goals scored 529 (2.94 per match)
Top goalscorer England Chris Venables (20)
Biggest home win Connah's Quay 5–0 Port Talbot Town (12 December 2015)
The New Saints 5–0 Airbus UK (27 February 2016)
Rhyl 5–0 Port Talbot Town (9 April 2016)
Biggest away win Newtown 0–6 The New Saints (13 February 2016)
Longest unbeaten run The New Saints (21)
2016–17 →

All statistics correct as of 9 April 2016.

The 2015–16 Welsh Premier League (known as the Dafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the 24th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints are the defending champions.

Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league is split into two groups at the end of January 2016 – the top six and the bottom six. Teams who finish in positions third to sixth at the end of the regular season will take part in play-offs to determine the second participant for the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League.

Teams

Cefn Druids and Prestatyn Town were relegated out of the Welsh Premier League the previous season, while Llandudno were promoted as winners of the Cymru Alliance and Haverfordwest County were promoted as winners of Welsh Football League Division One. It will be Llandudno's debut campaign in the league.

Stadia and locations

Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Park Avenue 5,000
Airbus UK Broughton Broughton The Airfield 1,600
Bala Town Bala Maes Tegid 3,000
Bangor City Bangor Nantporth 3,000
Carmarthen Town Carmarthen Richmond Park 3,000
Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Deeside Stadium 1,500
Haverfordwest County Haverfordwest Bridge Meadow Stadium 2,000
Llandudno Llandudno Park MBi Maesdu 1,013
Newtown Newtown Latham Park 5,000
Port Talbot Town Port Talbot Victoria Road 6,000
Rhyl Rhyl The Corbett Sports Stadium 3,000
The New Saints Oswestry Park Hall 2,000

Personnel and kits

Team Head Coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsors
Aberystwyth Wales Ian Hughes Wales Stuart Jones Nike Cambrian Tyres
Airbus UK England Andy Preece England Andy Jones Macron Gardner Aerospace
Bala Wales Colin Caton Northern Ireland Conall Murtagh Joma Aykroyd's
Bangor Wales Neville Powell Wales Leon Clowes Macron Dafydd Hardy (home) Anglesey Sea Zoo (away)
Carmarthen Wales Mark Aizlewood Wales Kyle Bassett Macron Jeff White (home) Natwest Cymru (away)
Connah's Quay Nomads England Allan Bickerstaff England George Horan Macron Driving Force
Haverfordwest County Wales David Hughes Wales Dale Griffiths Kappa West Wales Properties.co.uk
Llandudno Wales Alan Morgan Wales Tom Dix Adidas The UPVC Outlet
Newtown Wales Chris Hughes England Matthew Cook Givova NEO/Elephant & Castle Hotel
Port Talbot Wales Andy Dyer Wales Liam McCreesh Macron Blanco's
Rhyl Wales Gareth Owen England Dean Keates Adidas VanTruck
TNS Wales Carl Darlington England Paul Harrison Legea PlanetHippo

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 The New Saints (C) 32 18 10 4 72 24 +48 64 Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bala Town 32 15 12 5 48 27 +21 57 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2]
3 Llandudno 32 15 7 10 53 46 +7 52
4 Connah's Quay Nomads 32 15 3 14 50 42 +8 48 Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
5 Newtown 32 11 9 12 46 54 −8 42
6 Airbus UK Broughton 32 12 6 14 46 55 −9 42
7 Carmarthen Town 32 14 5 13 45 52 −7 47 Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
8 Aberystwyth Town 32 13 7 12 51 47 +4 46
9 Bangor City 32 13 6 13 49 52 −3 45
10 Port Talbot Town (R) 32 10 9 13 39 56 −17 39 Relegation to Welsh Division One[lower-alpha 4]
11 Rhyl 32 5 12 15 36 50 −14 27
12 Haverfordwest County (R) 32 5 6 21 27 57 −30 21 Relegation to Welsh Division One[lower-alpha 4]
Source: Welsh Premier League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Matches won; 5) Play-off.[2]
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Teams played each other twice (22 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches.
  2. ↑ Since the winners of the 2015–16 Welsh Cup, The New Saints, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the third-placed team, Llandudno.
  3. 1 2 Teams play for a spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.
  4. 1 2 Rhyl will be spared from relegation as Port Talbot Town failed to obtain a FAW domestic licence[1].

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season will participate in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, who will qualify for first qualifying round.[3]

Semi-finals

7 May 2016 (2016-05-07)
Newtown v Airbus UK Broughton

Final

14 May 2016 (2016-05-14)
Highest ranked Semi-final winners v Lowest ranked Semi-final winners

References

The league's rules are contained as a section of the Handbook of the Football Association of Wales.[4]

  1. ↑ "FAW Club Licensing Appeals Body". welshpremier.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Premier League 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.welshpremier.co.uk/news/Play-Offs-rest-on-Cup-Final-Winner/103537/
  4. ↑ http://faw.org.uk/uploads/documents/originals/FAW_WELSHPREMLEAG_2013.pdf

External links

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