# 2015–16 Derby County F.C. season

The 2015–16 season was Derby County's eighth consecutive season in the Championship in their 132nd year in existence. Along with competing in the Championship, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | DM | Chris Baird | West Bromwich Albion | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Darren Bent | Aston Villa | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | GK | Scott Carson | Wigan Athletic | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Alex Pearce | Reading | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | ST | Andreas Weimann | Aston Villa | £2,750,000 |
| 3 July 2015 | LW | Tom Ince | Hull City | £4,750,000 |
| 23 July 2015 | CB | Jason Shackell | Burnley | £3,000,000 |
| 1 September 2015 | CM | Jacob Butterfield | Huddersfield Town | £4,000,000 |
| 1 September 2015 | CM | Bradley Johnson | Norwich City | £6,000,000 |
| 4 January 2016 | LW | Abdoul Camara | Angers | £1,250,000 |
| 6 January 2016 | ST | Nick Blackman | Reading | £2,500,000 |
| 20 January 2016 | CF | Luke Thomas | Cheltenham Town | Undisclosed |
| 20 January 2016 | AM | Lewis Walker | Ilkeston | Undisclosed |
| 20 January 2016 | RB | Jayden Bogle | Swindon Town | Free transfer |
| 20 January 2016 | CF | Jayden Mitchell-Lawson | Swindon Town | Free transfer |
| 26 January 2016 | LB | Marcus Olsson | Blackburn Rovers | Undisclosed |
Total spending: £24,250,000

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Shaun Barker | Free Agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | RB | Sam Dryden | Dundee | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | GK | Ross Etheridge | Accrington Stanley | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | DM | John Eustace | Free Agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CM | Luke Hendrie | Burnley | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Josh Lelan | Northampton Town | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LB | Lee Naylor | Free Agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Tom Naylor | Burton Albion | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Mark O'Brien | Luton Town | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LB | Rhys Sharpe | Notts County | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LW | Jamie Ward | Nottingham Forest | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Zak Whitbread | Free Agent | Released |
| 6 January 2016 | MF | Simon Dawkins | San Jose Earthquakes | Undisclosed |
| 3 March 2016 | DF | Isak Ssewankambo | Molde FK | Undisclosed |
* ↑ Following Etheridge's release he joined Accrington Stanley.
* ↑ Following Hendrie's release he joined Burnley.
* ↑ Following Lelan's release he joined Northampton Town.
* ↑ Following Naylor's release he joined Burton Albion.
* ↑ Following O'Brien's release he joined Luton Town.
* ↑ Following Sharpe's release he joined Notts County.
* ↑ Following Ward's release he joined Nottingham Forest.

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 15 July 2015 | CB | Farrend Rawson | Rotherham United | End of Season |
| 15 July 2015 | GK | Kelle Roos | Rotherham United | 1 September 2015 |
| 21 July 2015 | CB | Raúl Albentosa | Málaga | End of season |
| 25 July 2015 | CF | Conor Sammon | Sheffield United | End of season |
| 29 July 2015 | CF | Kwame Thomas | Blackpool | 2 January 2016 |
| 15 January 2016 | CF | Mason Bennett | Burton Albion | End of season |
| 28 January 2016 | CB | Ryan Shotton | Birmingham City | End of season |
| 1 February 2016 | GK | Kelle Roos | A.F.C. Wimbledon | End of season |
| 18 February 2016 | DF | Chris Baird | Fulham | End of season |
| 7 March 2016 | LB | Stephen Warnock | Wigan Athletic | End of season |
* ↑ On 1 September 2015, Roos mutually terminated his loan spell with Rotherham United.

## Competitions
### Pre-season friendlies

On 19 May 2015, Derby County announced Benfica would visit as part of their pre-season schedule. Also the club confirmed they would head to Netherlands for a week. Derby County will also play a number of friendlies in England. On 24 May, Derby County confirmed the pre-season match against Benfica originally scheduled has been cancelled due to the Portuguese club being involved in the 2015 International Champions Cup. On 16 June 2015, Derby County announced pre-season friendlies against Nuneaton Town and Alfreton Town have been cancelled and replaced by a trip to Grimsby Town. On 26 June 2015, as part of pre-season preparations Derby County will host Spanish side Villarreal.

### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 24 | 17 | 5 | 72 | 42 | +30 | 89 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Hull City (O, P) | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 69 | 35 | +34 | 83 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Derby County | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 66 | 43 | +23 | 78 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 66 | 45 | +21 | 74 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 69 | |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 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 | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | D | D | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | D | L | D | L | L | D | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | D | L |
| Position | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 19 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |

#### Matches

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

### FA Cup

On 16 December 2015, it was confirmed that Derby County would be drawn away against League Two side Hartlepool United after they won their second round replay against Salford City.

### League Cup

On 16 June 2015, the first round draw was made, Derby County were drawn away against Portsmouth.

#### Football League play-offs

As a result of Derby County finishing in fifth place in the Championship they qualified for the Football League play-offs. In the play-off semi finals Derby County will play against fourth placed team Hull City over two legs.

## Top scorers

Last updated: 18 May 2016
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| No. | Nationality | Name | Championship | FA Cup | League Cup | Play-offs | Total |
| 9 | | Chris Martin | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 23 | | Tom Ince | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 11 | | Johnny Russell | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 18 | | Jacob Butterfield | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 15 | | Bradley Johnson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 24 | | Andreas Weimann | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | | Craig Bryson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 | | George Thorne | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | | Darren Bent | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | | Jeff Hendrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | | Jason Shackell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | | Richard Keogh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | | Cyrus Christie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | | Marcus Olsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 66 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 72 |