# 2015–16 Scottish League One

The 2015–16 Scottish League One (referred to as the Ladbrokes League One for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football.

## Teams

Promoted from Scottish League Two
* Albion Rovers
Relegated from Scottish Championship
* Cowdenbeath

### Stadia and locations

| Airdrieonians | Albion Rovers | Ayr United | Brechin City |
| Excelsior Stadium | Cliftonhill | Somerset Park | Glebe Park |
| Capacity: 10,170 | Capacity: 1,238 | Capacity: 10,185 | Capacity: 3,960 |
| Cowdenbeath | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Central Park | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | East End Park |
| Capacity: 4,309 | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | AirdrieoniansAlbion RoversAyr UnitedBrechin CityCowdenbeathDunfermline AthleticForfar AthleticPeterheadStenhousemuirStranraer | Capacity: 11,480 |
| Forfar Athletic | Peterhead | Stenhousemuir | Stranraer |
| Station Park | Balmoor | Ochilview Park | Stair Park |
| Capacity: 6,777 | Capacity: 3,150 | Capacity: 3,746 | Capacity: 6,250 |

### Personnel

| Team | Manager | Captain | Manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Airdrieonians | Danny Lennon (acting head coach) | Marc Fitzpatrick | Macron | M&H Logistics |
| Albion Rovers | Darren Young | Michael Dunlop | Adidas | Reigart Demolition |
| Ayr United | Ian McCall | Nicky Devlin | Adidas | Bodog |
| Brechin City | Darren Dods | Craig Molloy | Pendle | Delson |
| Cowdenbeath | Colin Nish | Pat Scullion | Uhlsport | Subsea Pressure Controls |
| Dunfermline Athletic | Allan Johnston | Callum Fordyce | Joma | SRJ Windows |
| Forfar Athletic | Gary Bollan | Gavin Swankie | Pendle | Orchard Timber Products |
| Peterhead | Jim McInally | Steven Noble | Adidas | LFH Engineering Ltd |
| Stenhousemuir | Brown Ferguson | Stuart Malcolm | Prostar | Gulnar Tandoori Restaurant |
| Stranraer | Brian Reid | Steven Bell | Stanno | Stena Line |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Dunfermline Athletic | John Potter | Stepped down | 30 April 2015 | Pre-season | Allan Johnston | 8 May 2015 |
| Cowdenbeath | Jimmy Nicholl | Resigned | 5 May 2015 | Pre-season | Colin Nish | 2 June 2015 |
| Brechin City | Ray McKinnon | Signed by Raith Rovers | 23 May 2015 | Pre-season | Darren Dods | 10 June 2015 |
| Stranraer | Stephen Aitken | Signed by Dumbarton | 27 May 2015 | Pre-season | Brian Reid | 1 June 2015 |
| Forfar Athletic | Dick Campbell | Sacked | 12 December 2015 | 8th | Stewart Petrie (interim) | 15 December 2015 |
| Airdrieonians | Gary Bollan | Signed by Forfar Athletic | 20 December 2015 | 5th | Eddie Wolecki Black | 22 December 2015 |
| Forfar Athletic | Stewart Petrie (interim) | End of interim | 21 December 2015 | 8th | Gary Bollan | 21 December 2015 |
| Airdrieonians | Eddie Wolecki Black | Illness | 5 March 2016 | 4th | Danny Lennon (acting head coach) | 10 March 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dunfermline Athletic (C, P) | 36 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 83 | 30 | +53 | 79 | Promotion to Scottish Championship |
| 2 | Ayr United (O, P) | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 61 | Qualification to Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Peterhead | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 72 | 47 | +25 | 59 | Qualification to Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Stranraer | 36 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 43 | 49 | −6 | 51 | Qualification to Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Airdrieonians | 36 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 48 | 50 | −2 | 49 | |
| 6 | Albion Rovers | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 44 | −4 | 49 | |
| 7 | Brechin City | 36 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 47 | 59 | −12 | 42 | |
| 8 | Stenhousemuir | 36 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 46 | 80 | −34 | 40 | |
| 9 | Cowdenbeath (R) | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 46 | 72 | −26 | 39 | Qualification to League One play-offs |
| 10 | Forfar Athletic (R) | 36 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 48 | 60 | −12 | 34 | Relegation to Scottish League Two |

## Results

Teams play each other four times, twice in the first half of the season (home and away) and twice in the second half of the season (home and away), making a total of 36 games.

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 30 April 2016
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Faissal El Bakhtaoui | Dunfermline Athletic | 22 |
| 1 | Rory McAllister | Peterhead | 22 |
| 3 | Greig Spence | Cowdenbeath | 17 |
| 4 | Robert Thomson | Brechin City | 15 |
| 5 | Joe Cardle | Dunfermline Athletic | 14 |
| 5 | Craig Moore | Ayr United | 14 |
| 7 | Ally Love | Albion Rovers | 13 |
| 7 | Shane Sutherland | Peterhead | 13 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Joe Cardle | Dunfermline Athletic | Forfar Athletic | 4–0 | 5 September 2015 |
| Rory McAllister | Peterhead | Stenhousemuir | 3–4 | 31 October 2015 |
| Leighton McIntosh | Peterhead | Cowdenbeath | 7–0 | 21 November 2015 |
| Joe Cardle | Dunfermline Athletic | Stranraer | 6–1 | 27 February 2016 |
| Rory McAllister | Peterhead | Brechin City | 4–1 | 27 February 2016 |
| Faissal El Bakhtaoui | Dunfermline Athletic | Brechin City | 3–1 | 26 March 2016 |
| Robert Thomson | Brechin City | Peterhead | 5–1 | 16 April 2016 |

### Discipline
#### Club
## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Ref. |
| August | Dick Campbell | Forfar Athletic | Faissal El Bakhtaoui | Dunfermline Athletic | |
| September | Ian McCall | Ayr United | Nicky Devlin | Ayr United | |
| October | Darren Young | Albion Rovers | Sean Murdoch | Dunfermline Athletic | |
| November | Brown Ferguson | Stenhousemuir | Leighton McIntosh | Peterhead | |
| December | Allan Johnston | Dunfermline Athletic | Greig Spence | Cowdenbeath | |
| January | Jim McInally | Peterhead | Shane Sutherland | Peterhead | |
| February | Jim McInally | Peterhead | Rory McAllister | Peterhead | |
| March | Allan Johnston | Dunfermline Athletic | Faissal El Bakhtaoui | Dunfermline Athletic | |
| April | Darren Dods | Brechin City | Robert Thomson | Brechin City | |

## League One play-offs

Cowdenbeath, the second bottom team, entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2015–16 Scottish League Two; Elgin City, Clyde, and Queen's Park.

### Final

The winners of the semi-finals, Clyde and Queen's Park, then competed against one another over two legs, with the winner replacing Cowdenbeath and being promoted to the 2016–17 Scottish League One.