The 2015–16 season is Blackburn Rovers' 128th season as a professional football club and its fourth playing in the Championship. Along with competing in the Championship, the club will also participate in the FA Cup and League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.
Summer Activity
On 12 May Rovers announced a new sponsorship deal with Dafabet.
On 16 May Rovers announced their retained list and Matthew Kilgallon & Lee Williamson had their contracts extended by a further 12 months. It was also confirmed long serving players David Dunn & Paul Robinson would be leaving the club upon the expiration of their contracts whilst Josh King & youth player Darragh Lenihan who made his 1st team appearance last season had been offered new contracts. Chris Taylor & Luke Varney were free to talk to other clubs.
On 28 May it was announced that Rovers forward Josh King would join Premier League new boys AFC Bournemouth upon the expiration of his contract.
On 25 June it was announced Luke Varney will undergo rehab at Ipswich Town upon leaving Rovers.
On 26 June Rovers announced Tom Cairney will be joining Fulham.
On 1 July Rovers announced Ryan Nyambe has signed his first professional contract, the defender has signed a 3-year deal, Also penning new deals at are Ryan Crump, Jack Doyle, Mark Edgar, Anton Forrester, Sam Joel, Sam Lavelle and Connor Thomson. They have each signed new one-year contracts, whilst Hyuga Tanner and Luke Wall have signed extensions to their Academy scholarships.
On 1 July Rovers announced Darragh Lenihan has signed a one-year deal.
On 1 July Rovers announced Josh Morris will be joining Bradford City.
On 2 July Rovers announced Chris Taylor had signed a new one-year deal.
On 8 July Rovers announced Leon Best had been released by mutual consent.
On 21 July 2015 Rovers announced their first and second signings of the summer transfer window, with the free agents Sacha Petshi signing a one-year deal with an option of a second year and fellow Frenchmen Bengali-Fodé Koita signing a two-year deal with Rovers.
On 31 July Rovers announced Jake Kean had been released by mutual consent.
On 31 July Rovers announced Rudy Gestede had joined Aston Villa.
On 5 August Rovers announced their third signing of the summer with free agent Danny Guthrie signing a two-year deal.
On 6 August Rovers announced their fourth signing of the summer with free agent Nathan Delfouneso signing a one-year deal.
On 10 August Rovers announced the loan signing of Modou Barrow from Swansea City until the 10 November.
On 11 August Rovers announced the signing of Reading center midfielder Hope Akpan after his contract was terminated by Reading, and completed a two-year contract to join Rovers.
On 21 August Rovers announced the loan signing of Tom Lawrence from Leicester City until 3 January.
Autumn activity On 11 November Rovers confirmed Gary Bowyer had left the club, Assistant manager Terry McPhillips, First team coaches Craig Short & Tony Grant & goalkeeping coach John Keeley also left with immediate effect.
On 15 November Rovers confirmed Paul Lambert has been appointed as new manager, with Alan Irvine as his Assistant manager, Rob Kelly as a coach & Laurence Batty as goalkeeping coach.
On 20 November Rovers announced Corry Evans has committed his long-term future to the club signing a contract extension until the summer of 2019.
On 24 November Rovers announced the loan signing of Doneil Henry from West Ham United until 3 January.
On 24 November Rovers announced John O'Sullivan has signed a contract extension until the summer of 2017.
On 26 November Rovers announced John O'Sullivan had joined Rochdale on loan until 3 January.
On 26 November Rovers announced Anton Forrester had joined Morecambe on loan until 3 January.
On 3 December Rovers announce they are now compliant with the Football League's Financial Fair Play regulations and will have their transfer embargo lifted.
On 10 December Rovers announced Craig Conway has committed his long-term future to the club signing a contract extension until the summer of 2018.
Winter Activity
On 5 January Rovers announced that Tom Lawrence will remain on loan for a further month, until 31 January.
On 5 January Rovers announced the signing of Elliott Bennett on a 2 and half year deal, for an undisclosed fee from Norwich City.
On 15 January Rovers announced the signing of Simeon Jackson on a short-term deal until the end of the season, on a free transfer following his release from Barnsley.
On 15 January Rovers announced John O'Sullivan had joined Bury on loan until the 13 February.
On 20 January Rovers announced signed of Danny Graham on loan from Sunderland until end of the season.
On 20 January Rovers announced the signing of Elliott Ward on a 2 and half year deal, on a free transfer from Bournemouth.
On 26 January Rovers announced Marcus Olsson will move to Derby County for an undisclosed fee.
On 27 January Rovers announced they have reached an agreement with Turkish team Kasımpaşa for the transfer of Bengali-Fodé Koita for a fee of 320,000 Euros.
On 29 January Rovers announced signed of Tony Watt on loan from Charlton Athletic until end of the season, with a fee agree to sign permanently in summer.
On 1 February Rovers announced Jordan Rhodes will join Middlesbrough for £9,000,000 with £2,000,000 add ons.
On 1 February Rovers announced Sacha Petshi has joined Créteil.
On 1 February Rovers announced signed of Jordi Gómez on loan from Sunderland until end of the season.
On 13 February Rovers announced signed of Matt Grimes on loan from Swansea City on a 93-day loan.
On 26 February Rovers announced Darragh Lenihan signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal.
Spring activity
On 17 March Rovers announced Chris Taylor, who is out of contract in the summer, has joined Millwall on loan until end of season.
On 18 March Paul Lambert says he will make the decision on the players who are out of contract in the summer when his budget is confirmed, Simon Eastwood, Tommy Spurr, Matthew Kilgallon, Chris Taylor, Lee Williamson, Nathan Delfouneso & Chris Brown are all out of contract in the summer.
On 18 March Rovers announced Nathan Delfouneso has joined Bury on loan until 19 April.
On 28 April Rovers announced that Paul Lambert will be leaving at the end of the current season.
Pre-Season friendlies On 15 May 2015, Blackburn Rovers announced six pre-season friendlies, Wigan Athletic, Bury, Oldham Athletic, Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Tranmere Rovers.
Championship
League table
Result by round
Matches On 17 June 2015, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.
Football League Cup On 16 June 2015, the first round draw was made, Blackburn Rovers were drawn at home against Shrewsbury Town.
FA Cup Rovers will enter the FA Cup in the third round proper which commences on 9 January 2016. On 7 December 2015, the third round draw was made, Blackburn Rovers were drawn away against Newport County.
Backroom staff
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|colspan="14"|Players out on loan:
|colspan="14"|Players that played for Blackburn Rovers this season that have left the club:
Goalscorers
RankNo.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal111FW Jordan Rhodes*101011 212FW Danny Graham7007310MF Ben Marshall2406422DF Shane Duffy4004521MF Hope Akpan3003=14MF Jordi Gómez3003=32MF Craig Conway3003816FW Tom Lawrence*2002 =5DF Grant Hanley2002=7FW Nathan Delfouneso1012=8FW Tony Watt*1102=31MF Elliott Bennett2002=35FW Simeon Jackson20021429MF Corry Evans1001=15DF Elliott Ward1001——— Own Goal2002Total466153
* left the club
Assists
RankNo.Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal132MF Craig Conway5005216FW Tom Lawrence*210338FW Bengali-Fodé Koita*2002=2DF Adam Henley2002=31MF Elliott Bennett2002=22DF Shane Duffy2002=26MF Darragh Lenihan2002=16MF Matt Grimes2002=5DF Grant Hanley2002=4DF Matthew Kilgallon20021124DF Ryan Nyambe0011=35FW Simeon Jackson1001=30GK Jason Steele1001=8FW Tony Watt*1001=14MF Jordi Gómez1001=6MF Jason Lowe1001——— No assist185023Total466153
* left the club
Disciplinary record
No.Pos.NameChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal 2DF Adam Henley 4010000004013DF Tommy Spurr 2001001004004DF Matthew Kilgallon 1000000001005DF Grant Hanley 8100000008108FW Bengali-Fodé Koita* 30000000030010MF Ben Marshall 40000000040011FW Jordan Rhodes 10000000010014MF Marcus Olsson* 40000000040022DF Shane Duffy 1001000000100123MF Danny Guthrie 40000000040029MF Corry Evans 1100000000110030GK Jason Steele 10000000010021MF Hope Akpan 70000000070016FW Tom Lawrence* 20010000030019MF Chris Taylor 10011000011032MF Craig Conway 1011000002019FW Chris Brown 10000100010126MF Darragh Lenihan 900200000110035FW Simeon Jackson 10010000020014MF Jordi Gómez 30000000030012FW Danny Graham 40000000040031MF Elliott Bennett 5000000005008FW Tony Watt * 20000000020015MF Elliott Ward 10000000010016MF Matt Grimes 100000000100Total88138111009724
* left the club
Transfers Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee 21 July 2015 DM Sacha Petshi Bastia Free transfer 21 July 2015 RW Bengali-Fodé Koita Caen Free transfer 5 August 2015 CM Danny Guthrie Reading Free transfer 6 August 2015 CF Nathan Delfouneso Blackpool Free transfer 11 August 2015 CM Hope Akpan Reading Free transfer 5 January 2016 MF Elliott Bennett Norwich City Undisclosed (nominal fee) 15 January 2016 FW Simeon Jackson Barnsley Free transfer 20 January 2016 DF Elliott Ward AFC Bournemouth Free transfer
Loans in Date from Position Nationality Name From Length 10 August 2015 CF Modou Barrow Swansea City Three-month loan (terminated by Swansea City 08/09/2015) 21 August 2015 CF Tom Lawrence Leicester City Four-month loan (3 January) (Extended 31 January) 24 November 2015 DF Doneil Henry West Ham United One-month loan (3 January) 20 January 2016 FW Danny Graham Sunderland End of season 29 January 2016 FW Tony Watt Charlton Athletic End of season (fee agreed)(Returned to Charlton due to injury) 1 February 2016 MF Jordi Gómez Sunderland End of season 13 February 2016 MF Matt Grimes Swansea City Three-month loan (16 May)
Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee 26 June 2015 CM Tom Cairney Fulham £3,000,000 (£3,500,000+ with add-ons) 1 July 2015 LB Ben MarshFree agentReleased 1 July 2015 CB Kellen Daly Free agent Released 1 July 2015 AM David Dunn Oldham Athletic Released 1 July 2015 CM Adrián Edo Free agent Released 1 July 2015 CB Sam Jones Free agent Released 1 July 2015 CM Paulo Jorge Free agent Released 1 July 2015 LW Joshua King AFC Bournemouth Bosman: £1,500,000 (£2,000,000 with add-ons) 1 July 2015 LM Josh Morris Bradford City Free transfer 1 July 2015 DM George Pierce Free agent Released 1 July 2015 GK Paul Robinson Burnley Released 1 July 2015 RB James Rae Barnsley Released 1 July 2015 CB Yann Songo'o Plymouth Argyle Released 1 July 2015 CF Luke Varney Ipswich Town Released 1 July 2015 GK Callum Williams Altrincham Released 8 July 2015 CF Leon Best Rotherham United Mutual consent 31 July 2015 GK Jake Kean Norwich City Mutual consent 31 July 2015 CF Rudy Gestede Aston Villa £6,000,000 6 January 2016 MF Mark Edgar Coleraine Free transfer 26 January 2016 LB Marcus Olsson Derby County £750,000 (£1,000,000 with add-ons) 27 January 2016 FW Bengali-Fodé Koita Kasımpaşa £240,000 1 February 2016 FW Jordan Rhodes Middlesbrough Undisclosed (~£9,000,000 + potential add-ons worth ~£2–4million) 1 February 2016 MF Sacha Petshi Créteil Free transfer
Includes estimated 15% sell on fee (£450,000-£600,000) following Steven Nzonzi transfer from Stoke City to Sevilla 9 July 2015 and potential add-ons from the Tom Cairney sale. Sell-on clauses have been negotiated in the sales of Josh Morris and Tom Cairney.
Loans out