The 2015–16 season was the 136th season of competitive association football in England.
Promotion and relegation
Pre-season League DivisionPromoted to league Relegated from league Premier League Bournemouth Watford Norwich City Hull City Burnley QPR Championship Bristol City MK Dons Preston North End Millwall Wigan Athletic Blackpool League One Burton Albion Shrewsbury Town Bury Southend United Notts County Crawley Town Leyton Orient Yeovil Town League Two Barnet Bristol Rovers Cheltenham Town Tranmere Rovers National League Barrow Guiseley Bromley Boreham Wood Alfreton Town Dartford AFC Telford United Nuneaton
New clubs Hereford F.C., a new club formed and owned by fans of defunct Hereford United F.C. were accepted into the Midland Football League Premier Division (Level 9) Hackney Wick F.C., a new club founded in mid-2015 by Robert "Bobby" Kasanga, a non-league footballer since there were very few football clubs located within the Hackney Wick area, Kasanga proposed to others the formation of a community-based club. They were accepted into the Middlesex County Football League Division One Central & East (Level 12).
National teams
England national football team
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying
UEFA Euro 2016
Friendlies
England women's national football team
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
Group stage
Knockout rounds
2017 UEFA Women's European Championship qualification
Group 7
UEFA competitions
2015–16 UEFA Champions League
Play-off round
Group stage
Group B
Group D
Group F
Group G
Knockout phase
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 December 2015. The first legs were played on 16, 17, 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 8, 9, 15 and 16 March 2016.
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2016. The first legs were played on 5 and 6 April, and the second legs were played on 12 and 13 April 2016.
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 April 2016. The first legs were played on 26 and 27 April, and the second legs were played on 3 and 4 May 2016.
2015–16 UEFA Europa League
Qualifying rounds
First qualifying round
Second qualifying round
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
Group stage
Group B
Group J
Knockout phase
Round of 32 The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2015. The first legs were played on 16 and 18 February, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 February 2016.
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 26 February 2016. The first legs were played on 10 March, and the second legs were played on 17 March 2016.
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 March 2016. The first legs were played on 7 April, and the second legs were played on 14 April 2016.
Semi-finals The draw for the semi-finals was held on 15 April 2016. The first legs were played on 28 April, and the second legs were played on 5 May 2016.
Final
The final was played on 18 May 2016 at the St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the semi-final draw.
UEFA Youth League
UEFA Women's Champions League
League season
Premier League
The most unexpected title race in Premier League history saw Leicester City defy all of their critics and win their first ever top-flight title in their 132-year history. Despite being tipped for relegation following the pre-season sacking of Nigel Pearson and replacing him with Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes remained in contention all season long and never once fell outside of the top seven, taking top spot in early January and never relinquishing it. This stunning achievement, coupled with a solid defence and the free-scoring efforts of Jamie Vardy (who broke the record for scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games) and Riyad Mahrez, saw the club receive mass acclaim at home and abroad for their efforts. Leicester's triumph would mark the first first-time champion of English football since Nottingham Forest's first title win during the 1977–78 season, as well as the first time this happened in the Premier League era.
Growing fan protests towards manager Arsène Wenger saw Arsenal endure another trophyless season after a collapse in form, but they recovered well to secure their first second-placed finish in 11 years, while goalkeeper Petr Čech won the Golden Glove for having the most clean sheets. Tottenham Hotspur finished an unlikely third, their first since 1990 – despite a very slow start, a six-match winning run in early January saw them become Leicester's closest title challengers, until multiple slip-ups in their remaining games ruined their chances of finishing above North London rivals Arsenal and saw them miss out on the top two. Nevertheless, it was still a fantastic achievement for the club, who qualified for the Champions League for only the third time, whilst Harry Kane was the league's highest scorer with 25 goals.
Manchester City endured a disappointing league season, only just securing a Champions League spot, but made up for it in Manuel Pellegrini's last season in charge by winning the Football League Cup, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time, only narrowly losing to Real Madrid. Manchester United also suffered a similarly underwhelming season; like City they had looked like potential title challengers early on, before a dreadful run of form in the winter derailed any such hopes and led to growing anger from the fans towards manager Louis van Gaal's defensive style of play. While the emergence of promising young striker Marcus Rashford helped revitalise their season somewhat and they won the FA Cup for the first time since 2004, they ultimately missed out on a Champions League spot on goal difference, and as a result, at the end of the season, van Gaal was sacked.
Having finished seventh the previous year, Southampton went one further and finished in sixth place, successfully ensuring qualification for the Europa League group stages. Whilst they had spent the first half of the season surprisingly hovering above the relegation zone, the return of goalkeeper Fraser Forster from injury saw a massive change in fortunes. In their last ever season at Upton Park before moving to the Olympic Stadium, West Ham United enjoyed arguably their greatest league campaign since their highest-ever finish thirty years prior and qualified for the Europa League. Although too many draws prevented them from securing a Champions League spot, Slaven Bilić had a successful first campaign as manager, which included victories at Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City before the end of September.
A poor start to the season saw Liverpool replace Brendan Rodgers with Jürgen Klopp, which bought about a successful change in both performance and results. Though several dropped points prevented them from finishing higher than eighth, the club enjoyed a stunning Europa League run that took them to the final where they ultimately lost to Sevilla and ensured no European football for the following season. Chelsea endured a torrid campaign as they made arguably the worst title defence in modern footballing history, hovering above the relegation zone by mid-December; while the sacking of José Mourinho (just seven months after leading the club to their fourth Premier League title) for Guus Hiddink on a caretaker basis saw a massive improvement in league results, a lack of success in their other competitions saw the club finish in their lowest league position for 20 years and fail to qualify for any European competitions for the first time in 19 years.
Of the three promoted teams, Watford surprisingly performed the best, finishing in 13th place with more wins than their previous two top-flight campaigns combined. Despite suffering a steep drop in form in 2016, the Hornets were never seriously threatened with relegation and alongside reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, the club ensured a second successive top-flight campaign for the first time in nearly 30 years whilst star strike duo Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney netted 28 goals between them. Swansea City finished 12th having made a decent start, only for it to turn into a disastrous run of form that saw them slip into the relegation places by January. But the appointment of Francesco Guidolin saw them rise up the table and thus finishing well clear of the relegation zone.
Having been in contention for their highest league finish in their history and fighting for qualification for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history by Christmas, a run of just two wins in 2016 saw Crystal Palace only just secure their place in the Premier League for the fourth season in a row, though a stunning run to the FA Cup Final more than made amends in Alan Pardew's first full season in charge. AFC Bournemouth's first-ever top-flight season quickly turned into a nightmare as long-term injuries to key players saw their form plummet and the chances of instant relegation increase – however, a six-match unbeaten run before Christmas which included successive wins over Chelsea and Manchester United, coupled with several bursts of good form, saw the Cherries secure their survival with several games to spare, however a poor end to a season prevented them a top half finish in their first season in the top flight.
After nearly 30 years in the top-flight and a succession of lower finishes since the departure of Martin O'Neill in 2010, Aston Villa finally ran out of luck and were relegated in bottom place in a season that saw them change managers three times – after winning away on the opening day, they proceeded to win just two more games in the season as they finished their campaign with the third lowest points total in Premier League history of 17 points, their season not being helped further by growing fan protests towards the owners as well as a failure to replace key players such as Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke in the summer. Finishing above them were Norwich City; despite being tipped to finish higher than both their promotion rivals as well as making several signings in both transfer windows, the Canaries were simply unable to re-adapt to the fast pace of the top-flight and their inability to score was once again their downfall, despite a famous victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in December. Taking the final relegation spot were Newcastle United, whose steep decline in form since qualifying for the Europa League in 2012 finally took its toll and they endured their second relegation from the top-flight in seven years, in spite of spending nearly £100 million on new players, as well as the managerial presence of both Steve McClaren and then Rafael Benítez late in the season.
Football League Championship
In one of the tightest second-tier title races in history, Burnley ultimately edged out the opposition to win the title and secure an immediate return to the Premier League, their first top-flight bounce-back since the end of the 19th century. Having been adrift of the automatic promotion places at Christmas, the Clarets finished the season unbeaten in 23 games and record signing Andre Gray was their top scorer with 25 goals. Despite a nervy end to their season, Middlesbrough ultimately shook off their disappointing play-off final loss the previous season and returned to the Premier League after a seven-year absence, recording the best defense for the second year running and conceding just eight goals at home. Taking the final place through the play-offs were Hull City, who scraped past Sheffield Wednesday in the final and secured their own instant return to the top-flight, earning Steve Bruce his fourth promotion as a manager.