2015–16 Scottish Championship

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.

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

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]
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
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
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
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 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

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] Peterhead1–4Ayr UnitedBalmoor, Peterhead
20:00 McIntosh  35' BBC Report Donald  18'
Preston  41', 59'
Crawford  74'		 Attendance: 807
Referee: Stephen Finnie
4 May 2016[31] Stranraer5–2LivingstonStair 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
7 May 2016[31] Ayr United2–1
(6–2 agg.)		PeterheadSomerset Park, Ayr
15:00 Crawford  26'
Devlin  57'		 BBC Report Donald  31' (o.g.) Attendance: 1,848
Referee: Crawford Allan
7 May 2016[31] Livingston4–3 (a.e.t.)
(6–8 agg.)		StranraerAlmondvale 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

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] Stranraer1–1Ayr UnitedStair Park, Stranraer
19:45 McGuigan  54' BBC Report Docherty  90+5' Attendance: 1,652
Referee: Bobby Madden

Second leg
15 May 2016[32] Ayr United0–0 (a.e.t.)
(1–1 agg.)
(3–1 p)		StranraerSomerset Park, Ayr
14:45 BBC Report Attendance: 4,581
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Penalties
Preston
Trouten
Docherty
Graham 		Cairney
Longworth
Barron
Gibson
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References
  1. "2015–16 Scottish Championship scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  2. "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. "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. "Raith Rovers: Brechin's Ray McKinnon in Kirkcaldy switch". BBC Sport. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  18. "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. "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. "2015–16 Scottish Championship statistics – Player Discipline". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  29. "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. "Play-off fixtures for next week". SPFL.
  32. "Championship play-off final on BBC ALBA". spfl.co.uk. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
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