2015–16 A-League

The 2015–16 A-League was the 39th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 11th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. Melbourne Victory were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regular season schedule was released on 29 June 2015. The season commenced on 8 October 2015 and concluded on 10 April 2016. The finals series commenced on 15 April 2016 and concluded with the 2016 Grand Final, held on 1 May 2016.

A-League

Season	2015–16
Dates	8 October 2015 – 1 May 2016
Champions	Adelaide United (1st title)
Premiers	Adelaide United (2nd title)
Champions League	Adelaide United Western Sydney Wanderers Brisbane Roar
Matches	135
Goals	421 (3.12 per match)
Top goalscorer	Bruno Fornaroli (25 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Thomas Sørensen
Biggest home win	Brisbane Roar 5–0 Melbourne Victory (12 March 2016)
Biggest away win	Newcastle Jets 1–6 Perth Glory (24 January 2016)
Highest scoring	Perth Glory 6–3 Brisbane Roar (20 February 2016)
Longest winning run	Western Sydney Wanderers (7 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Adelaide United (14 games)
Longest winless run	Central Coast Mariners Sydney FC (11 games)
Longest losing run	Central Coast Mariners (6 games)
Highest attendance	40,539 Sydney FC vs. Western Sydney Wanderers (24 October 2015)
Lowest attendance	4,514 Central Coast Mariners vs. Melbourne City (3 December 2015)
Average attendance	12,309 ( 205)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2016 Grand Final took place on 1 May 2016, with Adelaide United claiming their first Championship with a 3–1 win against Western Sydney Wanderers.

Clubs

Adelaide United

Brisbane Roar

Central Coast Mariners

Melbourne City

Melbourne Victory

Newcastle Jets

Perth Glory

Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix

Western Sydney Wanderers

Team	City	Home Ground	Capacity
Adelaide United	Adelaide	Coopers Stadium	17,000
Brisbane Roar	Brisbane	Suncorp Stadium	52,500
Central Coast Mariners	Gosford	Central Coast Stadium	20,119
Melbourne City	Melbourne	AAMI Park	30,050
Melbourne Victory	Melbourne	Etihad Stadium AAMI Park	56,347 30,050
Newcastle Jets	Newcastle	Hunter Stadium	33,000
Perth Glory	Perth	nib Stadium	20,500
Sydney FC	Sydney	Allianz Stadium	45,500
Wellington Phoenix	Wellington	Westpac Stadium	34,500
Western Sydney Wanderers	Sydney	Pirtek Stadium	21,487

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Kit partner
Adelaide United	Guillermo Amor	Eugene Galekovic	Kappa	Veolia
Brisbane Roar	John Aloisi	Matt McKay	Umbro[1]	Steadfast
Central Coast Mariners	Tony Walmsley	Nick Montgomery	Kappa	Masterfoods
Melbourne City	John van 't Schip	Patrick Kisnorbo	Nike	Etihad
Melbourne Victory	Kevin Muscat	Carl Valeri	Adidas[2]	Community Training Initiatives (h) Oliana Foods (a)
Newcastle Jets	Scott Miller	Nigel Boogaard	BLK	Beechwood Homes (h) Inspirations Paints (a)
Perth Glory	Kenny Lowe	Richard Garcia	Macron[3]	QBE Insurance
Sydney FC	Graham Arnold	Alex Brosque	Puma	The Star
Wellington Phoenix	Ernie Merrick	Andrew Durante	Adidas	Huawei
Western Sydney Wanderers	Tony Popovic	Nikolai Topor-Stanley	Nike[4]	NRMA Insurance

• Additionally, referee kits are made by Umbro.

Transfers

Further information: A-League transfers for 2015–16 season

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Brisbane Roar	Frans Thijssen	Resigned[5]	26 May 2015	Pre-season	John Aloisi	26 May 2015[6][7]
Newcastle Jets	Phil Stubbins	Sacked[8][9]	26 May 2015		Scott Miller	18 June 2015[10][11]
Adelaide United	Josep Gombau	Resigned[12]	24 July 2015		Guillermo Amor	24 July 2015[13]

Foreign players

Club	Visa 1	Visa 2	Visa 3	Visa 4	Visa 5	Non-Visa foreigner(s)	Former player(s)
Adelaide United	Marcelo Carrusca	Iacopo La Rocca	Sergio Cirio	Isaías	Pablo Sánchez
Brisbane Roar	Jean Carlos Solórzano	Thomas Broich	Jérome Polenz	Corona	Javier Hervás	Henrique1 Jamie Young2 Jack Hingert2
Central Coast Mariners	Daniel Heffernan	Roy O'Donovan	Fábio Ferreira	Nick Montgomery	Luis García	Mitch Austin1 Storm Roux2 Brad McDonald2
Melbourne City	Thomas Sørensen	Harry Novillo	Aaron Hughes	Bruno Fornaroli		Wade Dekker2	Robert Koren
Melbourne Victory	Besart Berisha	Guilherme Finkler	Matthieu Delpierre	Kosta Barbarouses	Fahid Ben Khalfallah	Daniel Georgievski2
Newcastle Jets	Leonardo	Mateo Poljak	Morten Nordstrand	Enver Alivodić			Miloš Trifunović Lee Ki-je
Perth Glory	György Sándor	Andy Keogh	Nebojša Marinković	Diego Castro		Krisztián Vadócz3	Sidnei Guyon Fernandez
Sydney FC	Jacques Faty	Mickaël Tavares	Miloš Dimitrijević	Miloš Ninković	Filip Hološko	Vedran Janjetović1 Ali Abbas1 Shane Smeltz2
Wellington Phoenix	Roly Bonevacia	Roy Krishna	Albert Riera	Alex Rodriguez		Manny Muscat2	Jeffrey Sarpong
Western Sydney Wanderers	Federico Piovaccari	Romeo Castelen	Alberto	Andreu	Dimas

The following do not fill a Visa position:
¹Those players who were born and started their professional career abroad but have since gained Australian citizenship (and New Zealand citizenship, in the case of Wellington Phoenix);^[14]
2Australian citizens (and New Zealand citizens, in the case of Wellington Phoenix) who have chosen to represent another national team;
³Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;
⁴Guest Players (eligible to play a maximum of fourteen games)

Salary cap exemptions and captains

Club	First Marquee	Second Marquee	Mature Age Rookie	Loyalty Players	Captain	Vice-Captain
Adelaide United	Eugene Galekovic[15]	Marcelo Carrusca[15]	None	None	Eugene Galekovic[16]	Bruce Djite[17]
Brisbane Roar	Matt McKay[18]	Thomas Broich[19]	None	None	Matt McKay[20]	Shane Stefanutto[21]
Central Coast Mariners	Luis García[22]	None	None	None	Nick Montgomery[23]	None
Melbourne City	Aaron Mooy[24]	None	Wade Dekker[25]	None	Patrick Kisnorbo[26]	None
Melbourne Victory	Oliver Bozanic[27]	Besart Berisha[28]	Jai Ingham[25]	Archie Thompson[29]	Carl Valeri[30]	Leigh Broxham[30]
Newcastle Jets	None	None	None	None	Nigel Boogaard[31]	Mateo Poljak[32]
Perth Glory	Diego Castro[33]	Michael Thwaite[34][35]	None	None	Richard Garcia[36]	None
Sydney FC	Alex Brosque[37]	Filip Hološko[38][39]	Alex Mullen[40]	None	Alex Brosque[41]	Shane Smeltz Jacques Faty[42]
Wellington Phoenix	None	None	Troy Danaskos[25]	None	Andrew Durante[43]	Ben Sigmund
Western Sydney Wanderers	Dario Vidošić[44]	Federico Piovaccari[45][46]	None	None	Nikolai Topor-Stanley[47]	Mark Bridge

The following concessions to the salary cap were introduced for this season:^[48]

• A Loyalty allowance on a sliding scale for players who have played 5 years at the same club. Maximum $200,000 for 10 years.
• A Mature Aged Rookie over the age of 21 who has not played in a fully professional league for the last 18 months and last played football in Australia.
• Each Club can pay three players who started their careers with the club outside the Salary Cap. This season the total has been lifted from $150,000 to $200,000.
• The two Marquee Players (which sit outside the Salary Cap) can be two foreigners.
• Salary Cap Banking will allow clubs to carry over money not spent inside the Salary Cap in the previous two seasons to the following season, up to 105% of the Salary Cap in the relevant contract year.

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Adelaide United (C)	27	14	7	6	45	28	+17	49	Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Western Sydney Wanderers	27	14	6	7	44	33	+11	48
3	Brisbane Roar	27	14	6	7	49	40	+9	48	Qualification for 2017 AFC Champions League second preliminary round and Finals series
4	Melbourne City	27	13	5	9	63	44	+19	44	Qualification for Finals series
5	Perth Glory	27	13	4	10	49	42	+7	43
6	Melbourne Victory	27	11	8	8	40	33	+7	41
7	Sydney FC	27	8	10	9	36	36	0	34
8	Newcastle Jets	27	8	6	13	28	41	−13	30
9	Wellington Phoenix[a]	27	7	4	16	34	54	−20	25
10	Central Coast Mariners	27	3	4	20	33	70	−37	13

Source: A-Leagues
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Results

Home \ Away	ADE	BRI	CCM	MBC	MVC	NEW	PER	SYD	WEL	WSW	ADE	BRI	CCM	MBC	MVC	NEW	PER	SYD	WEL	WSW
Adelaide United		3–0	3–1	2–4	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	3–0	1–1			4–2	0–1		1–0		2–2
Brisbane Roar	3–0		2–1	1–1	5–0	2–2	1–0	3–2	2–1	3–2	1–4		4–0	3–1		2–1	2–1
Central Coast Mariners	2–3	0–1		1–5	3–3	0–1	3–2	1–3	1–1	0–2					0–2	2–4		2–2	3–1	1–2
Melbourne City	0–2	3–1	3–1		2–1	2–3	5–1	2–2	3–1	0–3			4–1		2–2			3–0	3–0	3–2
Melbourne Victory	2–1	4–0	2–1	3–2		1–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–1	0–0						1–1		2–0
Newcastle Jets	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–4	1–0		1–6	0–1	3–1	1–2				2–1	0–1		1–2		3–2	0–1
Perth Glory	3–1	6–3	2–1	2–2	1–0	2–0		0–0	1–2	2–2	1–3		4–0	3–2	3–2
Sydney FC	0–2	0–0	4–1	1–1	2–4	1–0	1–2		0–0	1–0		1–3				2–0	4–0		1–3	1–1
Wellington Phoenix	4–2	3–2	1–3	2–1	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–1		0–2	0–4	0–0			1–4		1–2
Western Sydney Wanderers	0–0	1–3	4–1	4–3	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–1		0–0	2–1					2–1		2–5

Updated to match(es) played on 10 April 2016. Source: aleague.com.au
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

The Grand Final winner (Champion) qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League group stage

	Elimination-finals				Semi-finals				Grand Final
					Adelaide United	4
	Melbourne City	2			Melbourne City	1
	Perth Glory	0							Adelaide United	3
									Western Sydney Wanderers	1
					Western Sydney Wanderers (a.e.t.)	5
	Brisbane Roar	2			Brisbane Roar	4
	Melbourne Victory	1

Elimination-finals

15 April 2016

19:30 AEST

Brisbane Roar	2–1	Melbourne Victory
McKay 88' Broich 90+3'	Report	Berisha 86'

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 20,157

Referee: Jarred Gillett

---

17 April 2016

17:00 AEST

Melbourne City	2–0	Perth Glory
Fornaroli 40', 76'	Report

AAMI Park, Melbourne

Attendance: 11,273

Referee: Chris Beath

Semi-finals

22 April 2016

19:00 ACST

Adelaide United	4–1	Melbourne City
Djite 48', 60' (pen.) McGowan 88' Sánchez 90+4'	Report	Fitzgerald 72'

Coopers Stadium, Adelaide

Attendance: 15,489

Referee: Strebre Delovski

---

24 April 2016

16:30 AEST

Western Sydney Wanderers	5–4 (a.e.t.)	Brisbane Roar
Castelen 26', 53', 59' Šantalab 39' Vidošić 102'	Report	D. Petratos 16' (pen.) Andreu 20' (o.g.) Maclaren 23', 81'

Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta

Attendance: 20,084

Referee: Peter Green

Grand Final

See also: 2016 A-League Grand Final

1 May 2016

15:30 ACST

Adelaide United	3–1	Western Sydney Wanderers
Kamau 21' Isaías 32' Sánchez 89'	Report	Neville 58'

Adelaide Oval, Adelaide

Attendance: 50,119

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Statistics

Attendances

By club

These are the attendance records of each of the teams at the end of the home and away season. The table does not include finals series attendances.

As of matches played on 10 April 2016.

Team	Hosted	Average	High	Low	Total
Melbourne Victory	13	23,112	40,217	14,383	300,452
Sydney FC	14	16,071	40,539	8,717	224,999
Western Sydney Wanderers	13	14,297	19,627	9,860	185,866
Brisbane Roar	14	12,850	17,696	5,162	179,895
Adelaide United	13	11,287	19,079	6,205	146,736
Melbourne City	14	11,047	25,738	5,953	154,657
Newcastle Jets	14	9,586	14,886	7,210	134,202
Perth Glory	13	8,986	14,504	5,398	116,824
Central Coast Mariners	14	8,111	14,268	4,514	113,560
Wellington Phoenix	13	8,042	13,654	5,103	104,551
{{{T11}}}	0	0	0	0	0
{{{T12}}}	0	0	0	0	0
League total	135	12,309	40,539	4,514	1,661,742

By round

2015–16 A-League Attendance

Round	Total	Games	Avg. Per Game
Round 1	64,580	5	12,916
Round 2	84,448	5	16,890
Round 3	72,865	5	14,573
Round 4	67,074	5	13,415
Round 5	48,233	5	9,647
Round 6	58,681	5	11,736
Round 7	58,931	5	11,786
Round 8	59,295	5	11,859
Round 9	40,586	5	8,117
Round 10	46,988	5	9,398
Round 11	53,104	5	10,621
Round 12	73,423	5	14,685
Round 13	63,085	5	12,617
Round 14	55,954	5	11,191
Round 15	68,565	5	13,713
Round 16	76,749	5	15,350
Round 17	58,838	5	11,768
Round 18	63,419	5	12,684
Round 19	64,364	5	12,873
Round 20	86,207	5	17,241
Round 21	59,582	5	11,916
Round 22	44,628	5	8,926
Round 23	63,679	5	12,736
Round 24	49,476	5	9,895
Round 25	62,727	5	12,545
Round 26	58,268	5	11,654
Round 27	57,681	5	11,536
Elimination Final	31,430	2	15,715
Semi Final	35,573	2	17,787
Grand Final	50,119	1	50,119

Source:^[49]

Club membership

2015–16 A-League membership figures

Club	Members
Adelaide United	8,750
Brisbane Roar	5,347
Central Coast Mariners	6,059
Melbourne City	9,548
Melbourne Victory	27,054
Newcastle Jets	9,266
Perth Glory	7,109
Sydney FC	13,154
Wellington Phoenix	5,062
Western Sydney Wanderers	18,361
Total	109,710
Average	10,971

Last updated: 10 April 2016.
Source: aleague.com.au

Player stats

Top scorers

As of matches played on 10 April 2016^[50]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Bruno Fornaroli	Melbourne City	23
2	Jamie Maclaren	Brisbane Roar	18
3	Besart Berisha	Melbourne Victory	17
4	Diego Castro	Perth Glory	13
5	Aaron Mooy	Melbourne City	11
6	Filip Hološko	Sydney FC	10
	Andy Keogh	Perth Glory
	Mitch Nichols	Western Sydney Wanderers
	Harry Novillo	Melbourne City
	Brendon Šantalab	Western Sydney Wanderers

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of A-League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Blake Powell4	Wellington Phoenix	Western Sydney Wanderers	5–2	14 February 2016	[51]
Bruno Fornaroli	Melbourne City	Sydney FC	3–0	5 March 2016	[52]
Jamie Maclaren	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne Victory	5–0	12 March 2016	[53]
Romeo Castelen	Western Sydney Wanderers	Brisbane Roar	5–4	24 April 2016	[54]

Note

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Own goals

As of matches played on 10 April 2016

Player	Club	Against	Round
Lee Ki-je	Newcastle Jets	Wellington Phoenix	1
Andreu	Western Sydney Wanderers	Adelaide United	2
Diogo Ferreira	Perth Glory	Adelaide United	3
Andrew Durante	Wellington Phoenix	Melbourne Victory	4
Manny Muscat	Wellington Phoenix	Adelaide United	12
Jake McGing	Central Coast Mariners	Sydney FC	12
Patrick Kisnorbo	Melbourne City	Brisbane Roar	12
Aaron Hughes	Melbourne City	Western Sydney Wanderers	14
Tarek Elrich	Adelaide United	Perth Glory	14
Corey Brown	Brisbane Roar	Adelaide United	16
Daniel Mullen	Newcastle Jets	Perth Glory	16
Matthew Jurman	Sydney FC	Melbourne Victory	16
Corona	Brisbane Roar	Sydney FC	17
Enver Alivodić	Newcastle Jets	Brisbane Roar	19
Andrew Durante	Wellington Phoenix	Newcastle Jets	20
Scott Jamieson	Western Sydney Wanderers	Sydney FC	20

Clean sheets

As of matches played on 10 April 2016^[50]

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Eugene Galekovic	Adelaide United	12
2	Vedran Janjetović	Sydney FC	8
3	Andrew Redmayne	Western Sydney Wanderers	7
	Danny Vukovic	Melbourne Victory
	Jamie Young	Brisbane Roar
6	Ante Covic	Perth Glory	5
7	Thomas Sørensen	Melbourne City	4
8	Mark Birighitti	Newcastle Jets	3
	Glen Moss	Wellington Phoenix
10	Liam Reddy	Western Sydney Wanderers	2

Discipline

During the season each club is given fair play points based on the number of cards they received in games. A yellow card is worth 1 point, a second yellow card is worth 2 points, and a red card is worth 3 points. At the annual awards night, the club with the fewest points wins the Fair Play Award.^[55]

Club				FP Pts
Brisbane Roar	45	1	0	47
Perth Glory	56	4	1	67
Adelaide United	70	0	0	70
Newcastle Jets	57	5	1	70
Sydney FC	64	1	2	72
Wellington Phoenix	68	3	0	74
Western Sydney Wanderers	69	0	2	75
Melbourne City	72	2	1	79
Central Coast Mariners	58	6	3	80
Melbourne Victory	73	1	2	81
League total	632	23	12

Last updated: 9 April 2016.
Source: ultimatealeague.com

End-of-season awards

The following end of the season awards were announced at the 2015–16 Dolan Warren Awards night held at the Carriageworks in Sydney on 26 April 2016.^[56]

• Johnny Warren Medal – Diego Castro, Perth Glory
• NAB Young Footballer of the Year – Jamie Maclaren, Brisbane Roar
• Nike Golden Boot Award – Bruno Fornaroli, Melbourne City (23 goals)
• Goalkeeper of the Year – Thomas Sørensen, Melbourne City
• Coach of the Year – Guillermo Amor, Adelaide United
• Fair Play Award – Brisbane Roar
• Referee of the Year – Jarred Gillett
• Goal of the Year – Roy O'Donovan, Central Coast Mariners (Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners, 27 March 2016)

See also

• 2015–16 Adelaide United FC season
• 2015–16 Brisbane Roar FC season
• 2015–16 Central Coast Mariners FC season
• 2015–16 Melbourne City FC season
• 2015–16 Melbourne Victory FC season
• 2015–16 Newcastle Jets FC season
• 2015–16 Perth Glory FC season
• 2015–16 Sydney FC season
• 2015–16 Wellington Phoenix FC season
• 2015–16 Western Sydney Wanderers FC season