2015–16 Scottish Championship

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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.

The 2015–16 Scottish Championship (referred to as the Ladbrokes Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the 21st season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football.

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[]

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

Stadia and locations[]

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]
Recreation Park - geograph.org.uk - 189030.jpg Strathclyde Homes Stadium - Home Of Dumbarton FC - geograph.org.uk - 2586794.jpg Falkirk Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 397119.jpg Cappielow.JPG
Hibernian
2015–16 Scottish Championship is located in Scotland South
Alloa Athletic
Dumbarton
Falkirk
Falkirk
Morton
Morton
Hibernian
Hibernian
Livingston
Livingston
Queen of the South
Queen of the South
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers
Rangers
Rangers
St Mirren
St Mirren
 Livingston
Easter Road Almondvale Stadium
Capacity: 20,421[9] Capacity: 9,865[10]
Easter Road 2010.JPG Almondvale Stadium, Livingston.jpg
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]
Palmerston Park main stand.JPG San Starko.JPG Ibrox Inside.jpg StMirren(2).jpg

Personnel and kits[]

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

Managerial changes[]

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

a.^ Initially interim, made permanent 5 January 2016

League table[]

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 Premiership play-off quarter-finals
4 Raith Rovers 36 18 8 10 52 46 +6 62
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) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

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

Discipline[]

Player[]

Club[]

Attendances[]

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[]

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[]

First leg[]

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

Second leg[]

7 May 2016[31] Ayr United 2–1
(6–2 agg.)		 Peterhead Somerset Park, Ayr
15:00 Crawford Goal 26'
Devlin Goal 57'		 BBC Report Donald Goal 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 Goal 18'
White Goal 45+2'
Mullen Goal 89'
Halkett Goal 90+4'		 BBC Report Cairney Goal 62'
Dick Goal 109'
Longworth Goal 120'		 Attendance: 1,018
Referee: Craig Thomson

Final[]

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[]

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

Second leg[]

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 Penalty scored
Trouten Penalty scored
Docherty Penalty missed
Graham Penalty scored		 Cairney Penalty missed
Longworth Penalty missed
Barron Penalty missed
Gibson Penalty scored

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "2015–16 Scottish Championship scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: 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 requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ "St Mirren Football Club". Scottish Professional Football League. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  15. ^ Jump up to: 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. ^ Jump up to: a b "Raith Rovers: Brechin's Ray McKinnon in Kirkcaldy switch". BBC Sport. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  18. ^ Jump up to: 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. ^ Jump up to: 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. ^ Jump up to: a b "2015–16 Scottish Championship statistics – Player Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  29. ^ Jump up to: 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. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Play-off fixtures for next week". SPFL.
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b "Championship play-off final on BBC ALBA". spfl.co.uk. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
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