# 2015–16 Football League One

The 2015–16 Football League One (referred to as the Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th season of the Football League One under its current title and the 23rd season under its current league division format. The season began on 8 August 2015, and concluded on 8 May 2016.

## Changes from last season
### Team changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2014–15 season.

#### To League One

Promoted from League Two
* Burton Albion
* Shrewsbury Town
* Bury
* Southend United
Relegated from Championship
* Millwall
* Wigan Athletic
* Blackpool

#### From League One

Relegated to League Two
* Notts County
* Crawley Town
* Leyton Orient
* Yeovil Town
Promoted to Championship
* Bristol City
* Milton Keynes Dons
* Preston North End

## Team overview
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Barnsley | Barnsley | Oakwell | 23,009 |
| Blackpool | Blackpool | Bloomfield Road | 16,750 |
| Bradford City | Bradford | Valley Parade | 25,136 |
| Burton Albion | Burton-upon-Trent | Pirelli Stadium | 6,912 |
| Bury | Bury | Gigg Lane | 11,840 |
| Chesterfield | Chesterfield | Proact Stadium | 10,400 |
| Colchester United | Colchester | Weston Homes Community Stadium | 10,105 |
| Coventry City | Coventry | Ricoh Arena | 32,500 |
| Crewe Alexandra | Crewe | Gresty Road | 10,066 |
| Doncaster Rovers | Doncaster | Keepmoat Stadium | 15,231 |
| Fleetwood Town | Fleetwood | Highbury Stadium | 5,311 |
| Gillingham | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | 11,582 |
| Millwall | London (South Bermondsey) | The Den | 20,146 |
| Oldham Athletic | Oldham | Boundary Park | 13,512 |
| Peterborough United | Peterborough | Abax Stadium | 14,319 |
| Port Vale | Stoke-on-Trent | Vale Park | 18,947 |
| Rochdale | Rochdale | Spotland Stadium | 10,249 |
| Scunthorpe United | Scunthorpe | Glanford Park | 9,183 |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,702 |
| Shrewsbury Town | Shrewsbury | New Meadow | 9,875 |
| Southend United | Southend | Roots Hall | 12,392 |
| Swindon Town | Swindon | County Ground | 15,728 |
| Walsall | Walsall | Bescot Stadium | 11,300 |
| Wigan Athletic | Wigan | DW Stadium | 25,138 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Blackpool | Lee Clark | Resigned | 9 May 2015 | Pre-season | Neil McDonald | 2 June 2015 |
| Chesterfield | Paul Cook | Signed by Portsmouth | 12 May 2015 | Pre-season | Dean Saunders | 13 May 2015 |
| Sheffield United | Nigel Clough | Sacked | 25 May 2015 | Pre-season | Nigel Adkins | 2 June 2015 |
| Peterborough United | Dave Robertson | Sacked | 6 September 2015 | 20th | Graham Westley | 21 September 2015 |
| Doncaster Rovers | Paul Dickov | Sacked | 8 September 2015 | 17th | Rob Jones (interim) | 8 September 2015 |
| Oldham Athletic | Darren Kelly | Sacked | 12 September 2015 | 19th | David Dunn (interim) | 13 September 2015 |
| Oldham Athletic | David Dunn (interim) | Change of contract | 7 October 2015 | 18th | David Dunn | 7 October 2015 |
| Doncaster Rovers | Rob Jones | End of interim | 16 October 2015 | 20th | Darren Ferguson | 16 October 2015 |
| Chesterfield | Dean Saunders | Sacked | 28 November 2015 | 16th | Danny Wilson | 24 December 2015 |
| Walsall | Dean Smith | Signed by Brentford | 30 November 2015 | 4th | John Ward (interim) | 30 November 2015 |
| Burton Albion | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Signed by QPR | 4 December 2015 | 1st | Nigel Clough | 5 December 2015 |
| Walsall | John Ward (interim) | End of interim | 18 December 2015 | 3rd | Sean O'Driscoll | 18 December 2015 |
| Oldham Athletic | David Dunn | Sacked | 12 January 2016 | 22nd | John Sheridan | 13 January 2016 |
| Scunthorpe United | Mark Robins | Sacked | 16 January 2016 | 13th | Graham Alexander | 22 March 2016 |
| Barnsley | Lee Johnson | Signed by Bristol City | 6 February 2016 | 12th | Paul Heckingbottom (caretaker) | 12 February 2016 |
| Walsall | Sean O'Driscoll | Sacked | 6 March 2016 | 4th | John Whitney (interim) | 7 March 2016 |
| Peterborough United | Graham Westley | Sacked | 23 April 2016 | 14th | Grant McCann | 23 April 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Wigan Athletic (C, P) | 46 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 82 | 45 | +37 | 87 | Promotion to EFL Championship |
| 2 | Burton Albion (P) | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 85 | Promotion to EFL Championship |
| 3 | Walsall | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 71 | 49 | +22 | 84 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 4 | Millwall | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 73 | 49 | +24 | 81 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 5 | Bradford City | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 80 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 6 | Barnsley (O, P) | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 70 | 54 | +16 | 74 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 7 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 74 | |
| 8 | Coventry City | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 67 | 49 | +18 | 69 | |
| 9 | Gillingham | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 71 | 56 | +15 | 69 | |
| 10 | Rochdale | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 68 | 61 | +7 | 69 | |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 46 | 18 | 12 | 16 | 64 | 59 | +5 | 66 | |
| 12 | Port Vale | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 58 | −2 | 65 | |
| 13 | Peterborough United | 46 | 19 | 6 | 21 | 82 | 73 | +9 | 63 | |
| 14 | Southend United | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 58 | 64 | −6 | 59 | |
| 15 | Swindon Town | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 64 | 71 | −7 | 59 | |
| 16 | Bury | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 56 | 73 | −17 | 57 | |
| 17 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 44 | 58 | −14 | 54 | |
| 18 | Chesterfield | 46 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 58 | 70 | −12 | 53 | |
| 19 | Fleetwood Town | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 52 | 56 | −4 | 51 | |
| 20 | Shrewsbury Town | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 58 | 79 | −21 | 50 | |
| 21 | Doncaster Rovers (R) | 46 | 11 | 13 | 22 | 48 | 64 | −16 | 46 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 22 | Blackpool (R) | 46 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 40 | 63 | −23 | 46 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 23 | Colchester United (R) | 46 | 9 | 13 | 24 | 57 | 99 | −42 | 40 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
| 24 | Crewe Alexandra (R) | 46 | 7 | 13 | 26 | 46 | 83 | −37 | 34 | Relegation to EFL League Two |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to Football League Championship.
* ↑ Bury were deducted 3 points for playing the unregistered Callum Styles against Southend United on 8 May.

## Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 3 | Walsall | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| 6 | Barnsley | 3 | 3 | 6 | | | |
| 6 | Barnsley | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | Barnsley | 3 |
| | | | | | 4 | Millwall | 1 |
| 4 | Millwall | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Millwall | 1 |
| 5 | Bradford City | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |

## Results

| Home \ Away | BAR | BLP | BRA | BRT | BRY | CHF | COL | COV | CRE | DON | FLE | GIL | MIL | OLD | PET | PTV | ROC | SCU | SHU | SHR | STD | SWI | WAL | WIG |
| Barnsley | | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 6–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Blackpool | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 |
| Bradford City | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Burton Albion | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Bury | 0–0 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–2 |
| Chesterfield | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 7–1 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 2–3 |
| Colchester United | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–3 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 4–4 | 3–3 |
| Coventry City | 4–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Crewe Alexandra | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–5 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Doncaster Rovers | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| Fleetwood Town | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Gillingham | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Millwall | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Oldham Athletic | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 1–5 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Peterborough United | 3–2 | 5–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–3 | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Port Vale | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–5 | 3–2 |
| Rochdale | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Scunthorpe United | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Sheffield United | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Shrewsbury Town | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 |
| Southend United | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 |
| Swindon Town | 0–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 4–2 | | 2–1 | 1–4 |
| Walsall | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 |
| Wigan Athletic | 1–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Will Grigg | Wigan Athletic | 25 |
| 2 | Nicky Ajose | Swindon Town | 24 |
| 3 | Sam Winnall | Barnsley | 23 |
| 4 | Billy Sharp | Sheffield United | 21 |
| 5 | Paddy Madden | Scunthorpe United | 20 |
| 5 | Adam Armstrong | Coventry City | 20 |
| 5 | Lee Gregory | Millwall | 20 |
| 8 | Tom Bradshaw | Walsall | 17 |
| 9 | Steve Morison | Millwall | 16 |
| 10 | Leon Clarke | Bury | 15 |

## Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Reference |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Reference |
| August | Dean Smith | Walsall | Adam Armstrong | Coventry City | |
| September | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Burton Albion | Peter Vincenti | Rochdale | |
| October | Mark Robins | Scunthorpe United | Aiden O'Brien | Millwall | |
| November | Graham Westley | Peterborough United | Jacob Murphy | Coventry City | |
| December | Nigel Adkins | Sheffield United | Andy Williams | Doncaster Rovers | |
| January | Lee Johnson | Barnsley | Sam Winnall | Barnsley | |
| February | Gary Caldwell | Wigan Athletic | Jordan Archer | Millwall | |
| March | Paul Heckingbottom | Barnsley | Sullay Kaikai | Shrewsbury Town | |
| April | Graham Alexander | Scunthorpe United | Will Grigg | Wigan Athletic | |