Wikipedia

2015–16 Scottish Championship

The 2015–16 Scottish Championship (referred to as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the 22nd season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football.

Ladbrokes Championship
Season2015–16
ChampionsRangers
PromotedRangers
RelegatedAlloa Athletic
Livingston
Europa LeagueHibernian
Matches played180
Goals scored483 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorerMartyn Waghorn
(20 goals)[1]
Biggest home winQueen of the South 6–0 Dumbarton[2]
(19 March 2016)
Biggest away winDumbarton 0–6 Rangers[2]
(2 January 2016)
Highest scoringRaith Rovers 4–3 St Mirren[2]
(5 March 2016)
Rangers 4–3 Queen of the South[2]
(26 March 2016)
Longest winning run11 matches:[2]
Rangers
Longest unbeaten run14 matches:[2]
Hibernian
Longest winless run12 matches:[2]
Alloa Athletic
Longest losing run7 matches:[2]
Alloa Athletic
Highest attendance50,349[2]
Rangers 1–1 Alloa Athletic
(23 April 2016)
Lowest attendance468[2]
Dumbarton 3–1 Alloa Athletic
(8 March 2016)
Total attendance1,331,484[2]
Average attendance7,397[2]
All statistics correct as of 7 May 2016.

Rangers won the league title and promotion after a 1–0 win against Dumbarton on 5 April 2016,[3] while Alloa Athletic were relegated after a 0–0 draw against Livingston on 2 April 2016.[4]

Teams

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

Stadia and locations

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Alloa Athletic Dumbarton Falkirk Greenock Morton
Recreation Park Dumbarton Football Stadium Falkirk Stadium Cappielow Park
Capacity: 3,100[5] Capacity: 2,020[6] Capacity: 8,750[7] Capacity: 11,589[8]
       
Hibernian
Livingston
Easter Road Almondvale Stadium
Capacity: 20,421[9] Capacity: 9,865[10]
   
Queen of the South Raith Rovers Rangers St Mirren
Palmerston Park Stark's Park Ibrox Stadium St Mirren Park
Capacity: 8,690[11] Capacity: 8,867[12] Capacity: 50,817[13] Capacity: 8,023[14]
       

Personnel and kits

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Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Alloa Athletic   Jack Ross Pendle Marshall Construction
Dumbarton   Stephen Aitken Joma Baxter Ramsay
Falkirk   Peter Houston Puma Central Demolition
Greenock Morton   Jim Duffy Nike Millions Sweets
Hibernian   Alan Stubbs Nike Marathonbet
Livingston   David Hopkin Joma Energy Assets
Queen of the South   Gavin Skelton (Caretaker) Joma Palmerston Cafe
Raith Rovers   Ray McKinnon Puma valmcdermid.com (Home shirt)
D&G Autocare (Away shirt)
Rangers   Mark Warburton Puma 32Red
St Mirren   Alex Rae Carbrini JD Sports

Managerial changes

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Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Dumbarton   Ian Murray Signed by St Mirren 22 May 2015[15] Pre-season   Stevie Aitken 27 May 2015[16]
St Mirren   Gary Teale Sacked 22 May 2015[15]   Ian Murray 22 May 2015[15]
Raith Rovers   Laurie Ellis (interim) End of interim 23 May 2015[17]   Ray McKinnon 23 May 2015[17]
Rangers   Stuart McCall (interim) End of interim 15 June 2015[18]   Mark Warburton 15 June 2015[18]
Alloa Athletic   Danny Lennon Resigned 7 December 2015[19] 10th   Jack Ross 15 December 2015[20]
St Mirren   Ian Murray Resigned 12 December 2015[21] 8th   Alex Rae 18 December 2015[22]
Livingston   Mark Burchill Sacked 21 December 2015[23] 9th   David Hopkina 23 December 2015[24][25]
Queen of the South   James Fowler Sacked 19 April 2016[26] 7th   Gavin Skelton (interim) 19 April 2016[26]

a.^ Initially interim, made permanent 5 January 2016

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Rangers (C, P) 36 25 6 5 88 34 +54 81 Promotion to the Premiership
2 Falkirk 36 19 13 4 61 34 +27 70 Qualification for the Premiership play-off semi-finals
3 Hibernian 36 21 7 8 59 34 +25 70 Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round and for the Premiership play-off semi-finals[a]
4 Raith Rovers 36 18 8 10 52 46 +6 62 Qualification for the Premiership play-off quarter-finals
5 Greenock Morton 36 11 10 15 39 42 −3 43
6 St Mirren 36 11 9 16 44 53 −9 42
7 Queen of the South 36 12 6 18 46 56 −10 42
8 Dumbarton 36 10 7 19 35 66 −31 37
9 Livingston (R) 36 8 7 21 37 51 −14 31 Qualification for the Championship play-offs
10 Alloa Athletic (R) 36 4 9 23 22 67 −45 21 Relegation to League One
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Hibernian qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Scottish Cup.

Results

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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

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Scoring

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Top scorers

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As of matches played on 1 May 2016[27][1]
Rank Player Club Goals
1   Martyn Waghorn Rangers 20
2   Jason Cummings Hibernian 18
3   John Baird Falkirk 17
4   Denny Johnstone Greenock Morton 14
  Kenny Miller Rangers
6   Derek Lyle Queen of the South 13
7   Liam Buchanan Livingston 11
  Iain Russell Queen of the South
  Stevie Mallan St Mirren

Discipline

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Player

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Club

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Attendances

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Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Alloa Athletic 20,182 3,100 492 1,121 −21.2%†
2 Dumbarton 18,739 1,978 468 1,041 −2.9%†
3 Falkirk 84,052 7,804 3,550 4,669 −1.2%†
4 Greenock Morton 49,153 7,392 1,175 2,730 +59.1%†
5 Hibernian 168,105 14,412 6,686 9,339 −8.1%†
6 Livingston 31,766 6,505 787 1,764 −27.3%†
7 Queen of the South 38,072 5,858 1,047 2,115 −23.4%†
8 Raith Rovers 41,698 6,943 1,064 2,316 −10.9%†
9 Rangers 815,841 50,349 37,182 45,324 +38.2%†
10 St Mirren 63,876 5,933 2,321 3,548 −8.3%†
League total 1,331,484 50,349 468 7,397 −2.6%†

Updated to games played on 1 May 2016
Source: [2][30]

Championship play-offs

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Livingston, the second bottom team, entered into a 4-team playoff with the 2nd-4th placed teams in 2015–16 Scottish League One; Ayr United, Peterhead, and Stranraer.

Semi-finals

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First leg

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3 May 2016[31] Peterhead 1–4 Ayr United Balmoor, Peterhead
20:00 McIntosh   35' BBC Report Donald   18'
Preston   41', 59'
Crawford   74'		 Attendance: 807
Referee: Stephen Finnie
4 May 2016[31] Stranraer 5–2 Livingston Stair Park, Stranraer
19:45 McGuigan   14', 70'
Stirling   17'
Gibson   40', 81'		 BBC Report White   10'
Buchanan   68'		 Attendance: 589
Referee: John Beaton

Second leg

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7 May 2016[31] Ayr United 2–1
(6–2 agg.)		 Peterhead Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00 Crawford   26'
Devlin   57'		 BBC Report Donald   31' (o.g.) Attendance: 1,848
Referee: Crawford Allan
7 May 2016[31] Livingston 4–3 (a.e.t.)
(6–8 agg.)		 Stranraer Almondvale Stadium, Livingston
15:00 Buchanan   18'
White   45+2'
Mullen   89'
Halkett   90+4'		 BBC Report Cairney   62'
Dick   109'
Longworth   120'		 Attendance: 1,018
Referee: Craig Thomson

Final

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The winners of the semi-finals, Ayr United and Stranraer, competed against one another over two legs, with the winner, Ayr, replacing Livingston and being promoted to the 2016–17 Scottish Championship.

First leg

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11 May 2016[32] Stranraer 1–1 Ayr United Stair Park, Stranraer
19:45 McGuigan   54' BBC Report Docherty   90+5' Attendance: 1,652
Referee: Bobby Madden

Second leg

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15 May 2016[32] Ayr United 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(1–1 agg.)
(3–1 p)		 Stranraer Somerset Park, Ayr
14:45 BBC Report Attendance: 4,581
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Penalties
Preston  
Trouten  
Docherty  
Graham  		 Cairney  
Longworth  
Barron  
Gibson  

References

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  1. ^ a b "2015–16 Scottish Championship scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "2015–16 Scottish Championship performance". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. ^ "Rangers 1-0 Dumbarton". BBC Sport. 5 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Livingston 0-0 Alloa Athletic". BBC Sport. 2 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Alloa Athletic Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Dumbarton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Falkirk Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Greenock Morton Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Hibernian Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Livingston Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  11. ^ "Queen of the South Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Raith Rovers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Archived from the original on 2013-10-22. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  13. ^ "Rangers Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 4 November 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. ^ a b c "St Mirren: Ian Murray leaves Dumbarton to be Buddies boss". BBC Sport. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Dumbarton: Stranraer's Stephen Aitken makes managerial switch". BBC Sport. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  17. ^ a b "Raith Rovers: Brechin's Ray McKinnon in Kirkcaldy switch". BBC Sport. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Rangers: Mark Warburton - 'no short-term fixes' for new manager". BBC Sport. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  19. ^ "Danny Lennon resigns as Alloa Athletic manager". BBC Sport. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  20. ^ "Alloa Athletic name Jack Ross as their new manager". BBC Sport. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  21. ^ "St Mirren: Ian Murray resigns after six months as manager". BBC Sport. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  22. ^ "St Mirren: Alex Rae succeeds Ian Murray as manager". BBC Sport. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  23. ^ "Livingston sack manager Mark Burchill". BBC Sport. 21 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  24. ^ "Interim role for Hopkin at Livingston". SPFL. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  25. ^ "David Hopkin appointed Livingston head coach until end of season". BBC Sport. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  26. ^ a b "Queen of the South part with manager James Fowler". BBC Sport. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Scottish Championship Top Scorers". BBC. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  28. ^ a b "2015–16 Scottish Championship statistics – Player Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  29. ^ a b "2015–16 Scottish League One statistics – Club Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  30. ^ "2014–15 Scottish Championship performance". ESPN. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  31. ^ a b c d "Play-off fixtures for next week". SPFL.
  32. ^ a b "Championship play-off final on BBC ALBA". spfl.co.uk. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
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