# 2015–16 Burnley F.C. season

The 2015–16 season was Burnley's first season back in the Football League Championship following their relegation from the Premier League the previous season. This season marked their 134th year in existence. Along with the Championship, the club also competed in the FA Cup and Football League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. On 2 May 2016, Burnley won promotion back to the Premier League, following a victory over Queens Park Rangers.

## Match details
### Football League Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Burnley (C, P) | 46 | 26 | 15 | 5 | 72 | 35 | +37 | 93 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 2 | Middlesbrough (P) | 46 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 63 | 31 | +32 | 89 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 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 |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

#### Matches

Football League Championship match details :
| Date | League position | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| 8 August 2015 | 10th | Leeds United | A | D | 1–1 | Vokes 86' | 27,672 |
| 15 August 2015 | 13th | Birmingham City | H | D | 2–2 | Keane 51', Taylor 81' | 15,061 |
| 18 August 2015 | 17th | Ipswich Town | A | L | 0–2 | | 18,353 |
| 22 August 2015 | 13th | Brentford | H | W | 1–0 | Keane 26' | 14,928 |
| 29 August 2015 | 9th | Bristol City | A | W | 2–1 | Mee 34', Keane 40' | 15,002 |
| 12 September 2015 | 5th | Sheffield Wednesday | H | W | 3–1 | Jones 7', Taylor 78', Gray 90' | 17,277 |
| 15 September 2015 | 3rd | Milton Keynes Dons | H | W | 2–1 | Vokes 32', Boyd 49' | 15,845 |
| 21 September 2015 | 3rd | Derby County | A | D | 0–0 | | 26,834 |
| 26 September 2015 | 6th | Reading | H | L | 1–2 | Darikwa 67' | 15,226 |
| 2 October 2015 | 3rd | Rotherham United | A | W | 2–1 | Gray 9, Vokes 81' | 9,752 |
| 17 October 2015 | 5th | Bolton Wanderers | H | W | 2–0 | Gray (2) 56', 68' | 17,632 |
| 20 October 2015 | 5th | Nottingham Forest | A | D | 1–1 | Taylor 90' | 17,721 |
| 24 October 2015 | 3rd | Blackburn Rovers | A | W | 1–0 | Arfield 63' | 19,897 |
| 31 October 2015 | 3rd | Huddersfield Town | H | W | 2–1 | Gray (2) 12' pen., 43' | 16,749 |
| 3 November 2015 | 2nd | Fulham | H | W | 3–1 | Gray (2) 18', 37', Taylor 90+1' | 15,080 |
| 7 November 2015 | 3rd | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | D | 0–0 | | 20,684 |
| 22 November 2015 | 5th | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | D | 1–1 | Gray 4' pen. | 15,622 |
| 28 November 2015 | 5th | Cardiff City | A | D | 2–2 | Hennings 85', Connolly 90+3' o.g. | 15,133 |
| 5 December 2015 | 5th | Preston North End | H | L | 0–2 | | 18,614 |
| 12 December 2015 | 5th | Queens Park Rangers | A | D | 0–0 | | 16,576 |
| 15 December 2015 | 5th | Middlesbrough | A | L | 0–1 | | 19,966 |
| 19 December 2015 | 5th | Charlton Athletic | H | W | 4–0 | Arfield (2) 44', 53', Gray 55', Vokes 78' | 15,697 |
| 26 December 2015 | 5th | Hull City | A | L | 0–3 | | 21,842 |
| 28 December 2015 | 5th | Bristol City | H | W | 4–0 | Gray (3) 37', 45+2', 78', Arfield 71' | 17,234 |
| 2 January 2016 | 5th | Ipswich Town | H | D | 0–0 | | 16,307 |
| 12 January 2016 | 4th | Milton Keynes Dons | A | W | 5–0 | Barton 14', Vokes 46', Gray 64', Lowton 71', Boyd 82' | 10,011 |
| 15 January 2016 | 4th | Brentford | A | W | 3–1 | Arfield 12', Barton 30', Boyd 39' | 10,039 |
| 25 January 2016 | 3rd | Derby County | H | W | 4–1 | Keogh 29' o.g., Gray 54' pen., Vokes 58' pen., Arfield 66' | 15,214 |
| 2 February 2016 | 3rd | Sheffield Wednesday | A | D | 1–1 | Gray 3' | 19,762 |
| 6 February 2016 | 3rd | Hull City | H | W | 1–0 | Vokes 77' | 17,667 |
| 13 February 2016 | 3rd | Reading | A | D | 0–0 | | 16,773 |
| 20 February 2016 | 2nd | Rotherham United | H | W | 2–0 | Vokes 27' pen., Arfield 86' | 15,849 |
| 23 February 2016 | 2nd | Nottingham Forest | H | W | 1–0 | Vokes 68' | 15,517 |
| 27 February 2016 | 1st | Bolton Wanderers | A | W | 2–1 | Gray (2) 74', 85' | 17,484 |
| 5 March 2016 | 1st | Blackburn Rovers | H | W | 1–0 | Gray 16' pen. | 20,478 |
| 8 March 2016 | 1st | Fulham | A | W | 3–2 | Vokes (2) 9', 49' pen., Gray 61' | 15,281 |
| 12 March 2016 | 1st | Huddersfield Town | A | W | 3–1 | Ward 14', Vokes 30', Mee 45+2' | 13,917 |
| 19 March 2016 | 1st | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 1–1 | Vokes 68' | 17,411 |
| 2 April 2016 | 1st | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | D | 2–2 | Gray 33', Keane 90+3' | 29,683 |
| 5 April 2016 | 1st | Cardiff City | H | D | 0–0 | | 15,740 |
| 9 April 2016 | 1st | Leeds United | H | W | 1–0 | Arfield 1' | 18,229 |
| 16 April 2016 | 2nd | Birmingham City | A | W | 2–1 | Boyd 31', Gray 77' | 19,151 |
| 19 April 2016 | 2nd | Middlesbrough | H | D | 1–1 | Keane 90+2' | 20,197 |
| 22 April 2016 | 1st | Preston North End | A | W | 1–0 | Barton 6' | 17,789 |
| 2 May 2016 | 1st | Queens Park Rangers | H | W | 1–0 | Vokes 61' | 19,362 |
| 7 May 2016 | 1st | Charlton Athletic | A | W | 3–0 | Vokes 20', Boyd 49', Gray 51' | 16,199 |

### FA Cup

FA Cup match details :
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance | Ref |
| Third round | 9 January 2016 | Middlesbrough | A | W | 2–1 | Hennings 45+1', Ward 71' | 18,286 | |
| Fourth round | 30 January 2016 | Arsenal | A | L | 1–2 | Vokes 30' | 59,932 | |

### Football League Cup

Football League Cup match details :
| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score F–A | Scorers | Attendance | Ref |
| First round | 11 August 2015 | Port Vale | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,634 | |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Club† | Fee |
| 22 June 2015 | Matthew Lowton | Aston Villa | Undisclosed |
| 7 July 2015 | Jelle Vossen | Genk | Undisclosed |
| 28 July 2015 | Chris Long | Everton | Undisclosed |
| 29 July 2015 | Dan Agyei | AFC Wimbledon | Undisclosed |
| 30 July 2015 | Tendayi Darikwa | Chesterfield | Undisclosed |
| 6 August 2015 | Luke Hendrie | (Derby County) | Free |
| 7 August 2015 | Renny Smith | (Arsenal) | Free |
| 10 August 2015 | Josh Ginnelly | Shrewsbury Town | Undisclosed |
| 14 August 2015 | Rouwen Hennings | Karlsruhe | Undisclosed |
| 21 August 2015 | Andre Gray | Brentford | Undisclosed |
| 27 August 2015 | Joey Barton | (Queens Park Rangers) | Free |
| 24 September 2015 | Arlen Birch | (Everton) | Free |
| 22 January 2016 | George Green | (Ossett Albion) | Free |
| 26 January 2016 | Paul Robinson | (Blackburn Rovers) | Free |
| 1 February 2016 | James Tarkowski | Brentford | Undisclosed |
| 15 February 2016 | Lloyd Dyer | (Watford) | Free |
| 11 March 2016 | Freddy Yao | (Stoke City) | Free |
| 15 March 2016 | Taofiq Olomowewe | | Free |
    † Brackets around club names denote the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Burnley.

### Out

| Date | Player | Club† | Fee |
| 18 May 2015 | Steven Reid | | Retired |
| 8 June 2015 | Danny Ings | Liverpool | Tribunal |
| 19 June 2015 | Kieran Trippier | Tottenham Hotspur | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2015 | Ross Wallace | (Sheffield Wednesday) | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | Cameron Howieson | (St Mirren) | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | Luke Daly | | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | Kevin Ly | | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | Evan Galvin | (Waterford United) | Released |
| 23 July 2015 | Jason Shackell | Derby County | Undisclosed |
| 27 July 2015 | Alex Cisak | Leyton Orient | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2015 | Jelle Vossen | Club Brugge | Undisclosed |
| 1 September 2015 | Luke O'Neill | (Southend United) | Released |
| 1 September 2015 | Marvin Sordell | (Colchester United) | Released |
| 16 December 2015 | Steven Hewitt | (Chester) | Released |
| 24 March 2016 | Jamie Frost | | Released |
| 24 March 2016 | Nathan Lowe | (FC United of Manchester) | Released |
    † Brackets around club names denote the player joined that club after his Burnley contract expired.

### Loan out

| Date | Player | Club | Return |
| 23 July 2015 | Luke Conlan | St Mirren | 5 January 2016 |
| 11 August 2015 | Conor Mitchell | Sheffield | 8 September 2015 |
| 22 August 2015 | Luke O'Neill | Southend United | 1 September 2015 |
| 1 October 2015 | Danijel Nizic | Crewe Alexandra | 1 January 2016 |
| 2 October 2015 | Cameron Dummigan | Oldham Athletic | End of season |
| 2 October 2015 | Daniel Lafferty | Oldham Athletic | 2 November 2015 |
| 14 October 2015 | Luke Hendrie | Hartlepool United | 14 November 2015 |
| 19 November 2015 | Kevin Long | Barnsley | 19 February 2016 |
| 24 November 2015 | Alex Whitmore | Chester | 28 December 2015 |
| 2 January 2016 | Alex Whitmore | Gateshead | End of season |
| 7 January 2016 | Daniel Lafferty | Oldham Athletic | 5 March 2016 |
| 7 January 2016 | Luke Hendrie | York City | End of season |
| 7 January 2016 | Conor Mitchell | Bradford Park Avenue | 7 February 2016 |
| 8 January 2016 | Josh Ginnelly | Altrincham | 30 April 2016 |
| 8 January 2016 | Jason Gilchrist | Chester | 8 February 2016 |
| 12 January 2016 | Ntumba Massanka | York City | 11 March 2016 |
| 15 January 2016 | Luke Conlan | Morecambe | End of season |
| 1 February 2016 | Tom Anderson | Chesterfield | End of season |
| 16 February 2016 | Conor Mitchell | Sheffield | 16 March 2016 |
| 29 February 2016 | Renny Smith | GAIS | End of season |
| 24 March 2016 | Brandon Wilson | Stockport County | End of season |
| 24 March 2016 | Kevin Long | Milton Keynes Dons | End of season |

## Appearances and goals

    Source:
    Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute.
    Players with names marked † left the club during the playing season.
    Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Burnley.
    Players listed with no appearances have been in the matchday squad but only as unused substitutes.
    Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
Players contracted for the 2015–16 season :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Tom Heaton (C) | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Matthew Lowton | 25 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 (2) | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NIR | Daniel Lafferty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | NIR | Michael Duff | 23 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Michael Keane | 44 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Ben Mee | 46 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | ENG | Andre Gray | 41 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Dean Marney | 7 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (5) | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | WAL | Sam Vokes | 39 (4) | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 42 (4) | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | BEL | Jelle Vossen † | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Michael Kightly | 12 (6) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 (7) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | ENG | Joey Barton | 37 (1) | 3 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 (3) | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | ENG | David Jones | 39 (2) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 (2) | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Matthew Taylor | 1 (26) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (26) | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Luke O'Neill † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | ENG | Lloyd Dyer | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Marvin Sordell † | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | GK | ENG | Paul Robinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | GER | Rouwen Hennings | 3 (23) | 1 | 1 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 (24) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | ENG | Lukas Jutkiewicz | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 3 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | NOR | Fredrik Ulvestad | 1 (4) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | SCO | George Boyd | 42 (2) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 (2) | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | SCO | Matt Gilks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | IRL | Stephen Ward | 23 (1) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 26 (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Chris Long | 1 (9) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (10) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | ENG | James Tarkowski | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | ZIM | Tendayi Darikwa | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | IRL | Kevin Long | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | NIR | Luke Conlan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | FW | ENG | Ashley Barnes | 1 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (7) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | FW | ENG | Dan Agyei | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | ENG | Steven Hewitt † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | ENG | Tom Anderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | ENG | Alex Whitmore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | GK | NIR | Conor Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | CAN | Scott Arfield | 46 | 8 | 1 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 (1) | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | NIR | Cameron Dummigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | SCO | Jamie Frost † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | AUS | Danijel Nizic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | MF | AUS | Aiden O'Neill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | DF | ENG | Christian Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | MF | ENG | Brad Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | FW | ENG | Jason Gilchrist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | MF | ENG | Nathan Lowe † | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | FW | ENG | Ntumba Massanka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | MF | AUS | Brandon Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |