# 2015–16 Plymouth Argyle F.C. season

The 2015–16 season was Plymouth Argyle's fifth consecutive season in League Two and their 130th year in existence. Along with competing in League Two, the club participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

## Current squad

| No. | Name | Pos. | Place of Birth | Age | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | End |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 21 | James Bittner | GK | Devizes | 42 | 2 | 0 | Salisbury City | 8 July 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 23 | Luke McCormick | GK | Coventry | 41 | 273 | 0 | Oxford United | 9 May 2013 | Free | 2016 |
| 31 | Vincent Dorel | GK | Rennes | 32 | 0 | 0 | Poiré-sur-Vie | 14 March 2016 | Free | 2017 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kelvin Mellor | RB | Crewe | 33 | 81 | 2 | Crewe Alexandra | 26 June 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 3 | Gary Sawyer | LB | Bideford | 39 | 145 | 5 | Leyton Orient | 1 July 2015 | Free | 2017 |
| 4 | Carl McHugh | CB | Lettermacaward | 32 | 83 | 7 | Bradford City | 16 June 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 5 | Curtis Nelson | CB | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 31 | 232 | 7 | Academy | 8 October 2010 | Trainee | 2016 |
| 6 | Peter Hartley | CB | Hartlepool | 36 | 83 | 5 | Stevenage | 1 July 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 16 | Ben Purrington | LB | Exeter | 28 | 33 | 1 | Academy | 21 May 2013 | Trainee | Undisclosed |
| 19 | Aaron Bentley | CB | Plymouth | 29 | 4 | 0 | Academy | 21 March 2014 | Trainee | 2016 |
| 28 | Luke Croll | CB | Lambeth | 30 | 3 | 0 | Crystal Palace | 20 November 2015 | Loan | 2 January 2016 |
| 28 | Jordon Forster | CB | Edinburgh | 31 | 5 | 0 | Hibernian | 12 January 2015 | Loan | 7 May 2016 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 26 | Oscar Threlkeld | RB | Bolton | 30 | 25 | 1 | Bolton | 27 August 2015 | Loan | 9 April 2016 |
| 7 | Lee Cox | DM | Leicester | 34 | 52 | 0 | Swindon Town | 12 May 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 8 | Josh Simpson | CM | Harlow | 37 | 27 | 1 | Crawley Town | 6 July 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 10 | Graham Carey | AM | Blanchardstown | 35 | 32 | 9 | Ross County | 3 July 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 11 | Gregg Wylde | LW | Kirkintilloch | 33 | 38 | 6 | St Mirren | 1 July 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 20 | Hiram Boateng | CM | Wandsworth | 29 | 19 | 2 | Crystal Palace | 23 July 2015 | Loan | 2016 |
| 22 | Callum Hall | LW | Plympton | 28 | 0 | 0 | Academy | 1 June 2015 | Trainee | 2016 |
| 25 | Ryan Lane | MF | Saltash | 17 | 0 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2013 | Trainee | 2016 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 9 | Reuben Reid | CF | Bristol | 36 | 157 | 49 | Yeovil Town | 10 June 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 14 | Jake Jervis | CF | Wolverhampton | 33 | 37 | 11 | Ross County | 29 June 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 15 | Tyler Harvey | CF/AM | Plymouth | 29 | 58 | 3 | Academy | 1 July 2012 | Free | 2016 |
| 17 | Ryan Brunt | CF | Birmingham | 31 | 57 | 13 | Bristol Rovers | 20 January 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 18 | Deane Smalley | CF | Chadderton | 36 | 19 | 2 | Oxford United | 20 May 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 24 | Louis Rooney | CF | Carrickfergus | 28 | 1 | 2 | Academy | 1 June 2015 | Trainee | 2016 |
| 27 | Craig Tanner | SS | Reading | 30 | 38 | 6 | Reading | 5 August 2015 | Loan | 7 May 2016 |
| 7 | Daniel Nardiello | ST | Coventry | 42 | 4 | 0 | Bury | 27 January 2016 | Loan | 2016 |
Last updated: 6 March 2016 Source:Greens on Screen

## League Two
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Bristol Rovers (P) | 46 | 26 | 7 | 13 | 77 | 46 | +31 | 85 | Promotion to EFL League One |
| 4 | Accrington Stanley | 46 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 74 | 48 | +26 | 85 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 5 | Plymouth Argyle | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 72 | 46 | +26 | 81 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 6 | Portsmouth | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 75 | 44 | +31 | 78 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
| 7 | AFC Wimbledon (O, P) | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 64 | 50 | +14 | 75 | Qualification for League Two play-offs |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to Football League One.

### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | D | D | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | D | W | L | D | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | D | W |
| Position | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 |

### Matches

On 17 June 2015, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

### Football League play-offs
## Appearance / Goals / Disciplinary

| No | Pos | Name | Appearances | Sub App | Goals | | |
| 2 | RB | Kelvin Mellor | 44 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 3 | LB | Gary Sawyer | 49 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | CB | Carl McHugh | 40 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | CB | Curtis Nelson | 53 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | CB | Peter Hartley | 49 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | CM | Lee Cox | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | CM | Daniel Nardiello | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | CM | Josh Simpson | 16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | ST | Reuben Reid | 24 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | AM | Graham Carey | 40 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| 11 | LW | Gregg Wylde | 39 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | ST | Jake Jervis | 45 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | ST | Tyler Harvey | 1 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | LB | Ben Purrington | 7 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | ST | Ryan Brunt | 19 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | ST | Deane Smalley | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | CB | Aaron Bentley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | ST | Jamille Matt | 11 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | CM | Hiram Boateng | 27 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | GK | James Bittner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | LW | Callum Hall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | Luke McCormick | 47 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | ST | Louis Rooney | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | RB | Oscar Threlkeld | 19 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 27 | SS | Craig Tanner | 25 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| 28 | CB | Luke Croll | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | CB | Jordon Forster | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Christian Walton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Vincent Dorel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | CM | Jordan Houghton | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Last updated: 22 May 2016 Source:Greens on Screen

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | LW | Callum Hall | Academy | Trainee |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Jake Jervis | Ross County | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Louis Rooney | Academy | Trainee |
| 1 July 2015 | LB | Gary Sawyer | Leyton Orient | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LW | Gregg Wylde | St Mirren | Free transfer |
| 3 July 2015 | AM | Graham Carey | Ross County | Free transfer |
| 6 July 2015 | CM | Josh Simpson | Crawley Town | Free transfer |
| 14 March 2016 | GK | Vincent Dorel | Poiré-sur-Vie | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | RW | Lewis Alessandra | Rochdale | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CM | River Allen | Gateshead | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | LM | Jason Banton | Wycombe Wanderers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CM | Dominic Blizzard | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Matt Lecointe | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Marvin Morgan | Havant & Waterlooville | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CM | Oliver Norburn | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Jamie Richards | Torquay United | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Paul Wotton | Retired | — |
| 17 July 2015 | CB | Anthony O'Connor | Burton Albion | Free transfer |
| 15 January 2016 | CB | Aaron Bentley | Free agent | Released |
| 29 January 2016 | CM | Lee Cox | Stevenage | Free transfer |
* ↑ Following Allen's release he joined Gateshead.
* ↑ Following Banton's release he joined Wycombe Wanderers.
* ↑ Following Morgan's release he joined Havant & Waterlooville.
* ↑ Following Richards' release he joined Torquay United.

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | Loaned from | Date until |
| 23 July 2015 | CM | Hiram Boateng | Crystal Palace | 2 January 2016 |
| 5 August 2015 | SS | Craig Tanner | Reading | 7 May 2016 |
| 27 August 2015 | CB | Oscar Threlkeld | Bolton Wanderers | 9 April 2016 |
| 19 November 2015 | GK | Christian Walton | Brighton | 2 January 2016 |
| 20 November 2015 | CB | Luke Croll | Crystal Palace | 2 January 2016 |
| 12 January 2016 | CB | Jordon Forster | Hibernian | 7 May 2016 |
| 27 January 2016 | ST | Daniel Nardiello | Bury | 7 May 2016 |
| 10 March 2016 | CM | Jordan Houghton | Chelsea | 31 May 2016 |
| 11 March 2016 | ST | Jamille Matt | Fleetwood | 8 April 2016 |
| 23 March 2016 | CM | Hiram Boateng | Crystal Palace | 7 May 2016 |

### Loans Out

| Date from | Position | Name | Loaned to | Date until |
| 26 November 2015 | CM | Lee Cox | Stevenage | May 2016 |
| 21 January 2016 | ST | Deane Smalley | Newport | May 2016 |
| 11 March 2016 | ST | Tyler Harvey | Bath | 8 April 2016 |