The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the
Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, the top English professional league for
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 117th season of top-flight English football overall. The season began on 8 August 2015, and was scheduled to conclude on 15 May 2016. However, the match between
Manchester United and
Bournemouth on the final day was postponed to 17 May 2016 due to a suspicious package found at
Old Trafford.
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
began the season as defending champions of the
2014–15 season. Bournemouth,
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
and
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
entered as the three promoted teams from the
2014–15 Football League Championship
The 2014–15 Football League Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons), was the eleventh season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the twenty-third season under its current league s ...
.
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, managed by Italian
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
, were crowned champions for the first time in their 132-year history, with 2 games to spare, after
Tottenham
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...
failed to beat Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge on 2 May 2016, becoming the 24th club to become
English football champions
The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English men's football, which since 1992–93 is the Premier League.
Following the codification of professional football by the Football Association in 1885, the Footba ...
, and the sixth club to win the Premier League. Many commentators consider this to be one of the greatest sporting shocks in history, especially given that Leicester spent a great deal of the previous season at the bottom of the table before rallying towards the season's end to finish 14th. At the beginning of the season, bookmakers had given Leicester City odds of 5000/1 against them winning the league.
Leicester striker
Jamie Vardy
Jamie Richard Vardy (''né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aided ...
's goal against
Manchester United on 28 November 2015 meant he had scored in 11 consecutive matches, surpassing
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven.
A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...
's
Premier League record of 10 straight games with a goal, which he set in 2003.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
, one of seven teams who had played in the Premier League since
its inaugural season, were relegated from the top flight in England for the first time since 1987.
Leicester celebrated their title win with renditions of "
Nessun dorma
"" (; English: "Let no one sleep") is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera ''Turandot'' (text by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni) and one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, (the unknown prince), ...
" and "
Con te partirò
"Con te partirò" (; "With You I Shall Depart") is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival and recorded on his album of the ...
" by
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fr ...
, who sang for the Leicester fans on the pitch of the
King Power Stadium
King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
in May.
Summary
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
were the surprise of the season. Following their late escape from relegation in the previous season many pundits had predicted that they would be relegated and bookmakers gave 5,000–1 odds on them winning the title.
After the dismissal of manager
Nigel Pearson
Nigel Graham Pearson (born 21 August 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, currently the manager of Championship club Bristol City. During his playing career, he was a defender and played for Shrewsbury Town, Shef ...
, they began the new season with Italian
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023.
Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...
in charge. Pearson had been known for his short temper with the press, while Ranieri has a reputation for good humour.
[ The appointment was met with scepticism by pundits, including Leicester fan and former player ]Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
, as Ranieri had recently been sacked from his previous post as manager of the Greece national team after suffering a humiliating defeat to the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
in his last game in charge.
Despite winning their opening game against Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
and topping the table, they dropped back following a 5–2 home defeat to Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
in September. However, aided by Jamie Vardy
Jamie Richard Vardy (''né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aided ...
's record feat of scoring in eleven consecutive Premier League games, they then remained unbeaten – and returned to the top of the table – until 26 December, when a 1–0 defeat to Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
dropped them to second place. They returned to the top after a 1–1 draw with Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
on 16 January, and remained there for the rest of the season. Following a 2–2 draw between Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
at Stamford Bridge on 2 May 2016, and having two more games to play, Leicester City were confirmed champions, their first title in the top flight of English football, eclipsing the runners-up spot they reached in 1929.
Defending champions Chelsea sacked manager José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
in December while in 16th place and eventually failed to qualify for European football for the first time in two decades. Eden Hazard
Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
, the previous season's PFA Players' Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...
, did not score a league goal until late April. They eventually finished 10th, breaking the record for lowest finish for a Premier League title holder - 7th - held jointly by Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
in 1995–96 and Manchester United in 2013–14. This record only stood for one year, as Leicester City finished 12th the following season.
Arsenal, looking for their first title since 2004 and following a poor start, improved and in early January took the top spot from Leicester. However, a poor run of results, including draws with Liverpool, Stoke City and Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, and a loss to Chelsea saw them drop to fourth by mid-February. They remained in contention, but draws with West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, Sunderland and Crystal Palace in April saw their title hopes vanish.
Meanwhile, Arsenal's London rivals Tottenham Hotspur won six matches in a row, and when Arsenal lost to Manchester United at the end of February, Tottenham leapfrogged them into second place, where they remained until the final weekend of the season. Draws with West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
and Chelsea prevented them from winning their first league title since 1961. The game in which Tottenham's title challenge ended was their 2–2 draw at Chelsea on 2 May, with many altercations between players and benches on and off the field, especially after Eden Hazard
Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered o ...
scored the equalizing and final goal. Mark Clattenburg
Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English professional football referee.
Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association and also a former FIFA referee. He has refereed a number of nota ...
, who refereed the game, subsequently stated that he could have "sent three players off from Tottenham" but chose instead to allow them to play on, giving the team a total of nine yellow card
Yellow card may refer to:
* Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas
* Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band
* Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...
s (a league record), so as to allow them to "self destruct" and have no one else to blame but themselves.
After a 2–1 home loss to Southampton and a 5–1 defeat away to Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in their final two matches, Tottenham ended the season in third place, one point behind Arsenal.
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
, in their final season at the Boleyn Ground
The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
after 112 years, achieved 62 points, a club record for a Premier League campaign. It was also the first Premier League season where they had finished with a positive goal difference (+14) and West Ham's eight defeats was also a club record for the fewest losses suffered in a Premier League season.
Aston Villa, a presence in the Premier League since the league's foundation in 1992 and present in the top division since the 1988–89 season, were the first team to be mathematically relegated, after a 1–0 loss at Manchester United on 16 April. On 11 May, Sunderland won 3–0 against Everton, a result which relegated both Newcastle United and Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
with one game remaining.
All of the final fixtures of the season were scheduled for 15 May and were to kick off at the same time. However, Manchester United's home game against Bournemouth was postponed to two days later after Old Trafford was evacuated because of the discovery of a suspicious device, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion. It was confirmed to be an accidental leftover from a training exercise.
Reactions
The unlikely nature of Leicester's title led to a flood of coverage from across the globe. Prime Minister David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
tweeted his congratulations, saying it was "An extraordinary, thoroughly deserved, Premier League title." Congratulations were also sent by the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
, who praised his compatriot Ranieri.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore described it as "biggest story we've ever had" in English football. Former Leicester manager Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...
described it as the "greatest achievement of this century". Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
, the former Leicester striker who led a consortium that saved the club from administration in 2002, had said he would host the BBC football show ''Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...
'' in his underwear if Leicester won the title. After they won the title, he did indeed present the show clad only in boxer shorts. He said: "There were no odds that I would have taken at the start of the season. No odds. You could have given me 10 million to one and I'd have said 'Nah, it's a waste of a quid'". José Mourinho
José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...
, manager of 2015 champions Chelsea and Ranieri's replacement at the same team eleven years earlier, sent his congratulations, saying: "I lost my title to Claudio Ranieri and it is with incredible emotion that I live this magic moment in his career."
Ranieri said after winning his first title at the age of 64 that he wouldn't have appreciated it as a young man: "Now I am an old man I can feel it much better."
The long odds bookmakers had given Leicester at the start of the season led to them incurring losses of up to £25 million, with one punter winning over £100,000, having wagered £20 at the original 5,000–1 odds; the largest payout was £200,000 to an anonymous bettor who wagered £100 on the team in October when the odds were improved to 2,000–1.
Superstitious claims of phenomena helping Leicester win the league include the club's Thai owners engaging Buddhist monks to bless the players,[ and the reburial of King ]Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
in the city's cathedral in March 2015.
Notes
:1. This is a Premier League record. The all time first tier of English football record stands at 12, by Jimmy Dunne in 1932.
:2. A promise which he later kept. The reference includes a brief clip from the beginning of the programme.
Teams
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
. The promoted teams were Bournemouth (playing in the top flight for the first time ever), Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
(returning to the top flight after eight years) and Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
(returning after a season's absence). They replaced Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
(ending their two-year spell in the top flight), Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
and Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
(both teams relegated after a season's presence).
Stadiums and locations
:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''
Personnel and kits
* Additionally, referee kits are made by Nike, sponsored by EA Sports
EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...
, and Nike has a new match ball, the Ordem Premier League.
Managerial changes
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
Hat-tricks
;Notes
4 Player scored 4 goals
5 Player scored 5 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team
Clean sheets
Discipline
Player
*Most yellow cards: 11
** Jack Colback
Jack Raymond Colback (born 24 October 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Nottingham Forest.
Colback began his career at Sunderland in 2008, having graduated from their academy, and broke in ...
(Newcastle United)
*Most red cards: 3
** Victor Wanyama
Victor Mugubi Wanyama (; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Major League Soccer club CF Montréal and the Kenyan national team.
Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to scor ...
(Southampton)
Club
*Most yellow cards: 74
**Aston Villa
*Most red cards: 6
**Southampton
Awards
Monthly awards
Annual awards
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Premier League
Premier League seasons
Eng
1