The 2015–16 season saw Leeds United competing in the Championship (known as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) for a sixth successive season.
Season summary With Neil Redfearn having been sacked as manager in the summer, owner Massimo Cellino turned to Uwe Rösler, who had experienced some success with Brentford, but had been sacked as manager of then-Championship rivals Wigan Athletic in the middle of an ultimately unsuccessful relegation struggle the previous season. The summer also saw few signings of note being made, and a host of departures, including Billy Sharp, who had heavily underwhelmed by scoring just five goals in the previous season, and dropped down a division to return to former club Sheffield United.
As had become increasingly typical in recent years, Rösler had precious little time in charge of Leeds, and was sacked after winning just two of his first ten league matches (albeit five of them had ended in draws). He was replaced by Steve Evans, who had recently been sacked by Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United, and while the club's form initially remained unimpressive, results did eventually pick up. However, Leeds were too inconsistent to produce anything better than a season of mid-table mediocrity, with the only saving grace being that even this was better than most of their recent seasons. Among the few positives of the campaign were the form of newly-recruited New Zealander Chris Wood, who would prove Leeds' top scorer this year. Additionally, the relative lack of new signings and an injury crisis forced Evans to fall back on several youngsters, including Kalvin Phillips, who would become key figures in the side in the years ahead. Evans would not last long enough to see the fruits of this, however, as for the third season in succession, Leeds sacked their manager after the season ended.
Events
This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2014–15 season, presented in chronological order, starting on 2 May 2015 and ending on the final day of the club's final match in the 2015–16 season. This list does not include transfers or new contracts, which are listed in the transfers section below, or match results, which are in the results section.
May 7 May: Massimo Cellino has been granted Football League permission to return to the club's board, taking up the role as Leeds United chairman with immediate effect after passing the League's Owners and Directors Test. 11 May: Adam Pearson returns to the club as executive director, to assist Massimo Cellino. 12 May: The Financial Fair Play transfer embargo imposed upon the club in December is lifted for the 2015 summer transfer window, with no club now under no restrictions in relation to buying or selling players. 20 May: Uwe Rösler is named as the club's new head coach on a two-year deal.
June 3 June: Rob Kelly is named assistant head coach, penning a two-year deal. 9 June: Richard Hartis becomes the club's new goalkeeping coach. As a result of this move, Neil Sullivan returned to his previous role the Academy, coaching the Under-21s and U18s. 15 June: Martyn Glover joins the club from West Ham United as the new head of recruitment. The club also confirmed that Stuart Hayton had joined the previous week from Liverpool as the new club secretary. 16 June: The club announce a five-year deal with Italian sportswear giants Kappa to become the club's new kit provider from the 2015/16 season onwards. 24 June: The club reach a mutual agreement with Nicola Salerno for him to depart from his role as Sporting Director.
July 2 July: Julian Darby joins the backroom staff as a first-team coach. 13 July: Leeds re-purchase the catering and beverage rights for Elland Road and the Centenary Pavilion, ending a period where it had been outsourced after being sold in June 2012. 13 July: Global Autocare are announced as the club's official South Stand Sponsor and Vehicle Partner for the next three years in a record-breaking partnership. 16 July: Neil Redfearn resigns from academy position, claiming the club made his position "untenable".
August 4 August: Sol Bamba is named as the club's captain for the 2015/16 season. 21 August: The club announce a partnership with bookmakers CORAL, who will become the club's official betting and gaming partner, as well as sponsoring the North East Corner Stand of Elland Road.
September 4 September: Paul Hart returns as the club's new Head of Academy. 15 September: Adam Pearson departs from his role as executive director.
October 19 October: Uwe Rösler and the club part ways, with Rösler departing from his position as head coach. Assistant manager Rob Kelly and first-team coach Julian Darby have been placed on gardening leave. Steve Evans is appointed as head coach, on a rolling contract until 30 June 2016, with Paul Raynor joining as assistant coach.
First-team squad Squad information
Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the Championship (and playoffs), League One (and playoffs), FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.
Transfers
In Date Pos. Name From Fee 9 June 2015GKCardiff CityFree transfer10 June 2015FWMotherwellFree transfer24 June 2015DFPalermo£1,000,0001 July 2015FWLeicester City£3,000,00015 July 2015GKBarnsleyFree transfer4 August 2015MFBrentford£1,300,0001 September 2015FWExcelsior£1,000,00011 January 2016FWDoncaster RoversUndisclosed11 January 2016DFDoncaster RoversUndisclosed25 January 2016MFBrentford£600,000
Loans in Start datePositionNameFromEnd dateRef.14 July 2015MFCardiff City31 May 2016 2 October 2015MFSunderland26 November 2015 26 November 2015MFSunderland31 May 2016 8 January 2016MFMiddlesbrough31 May 2016
Loans out Start datePositionNameToEnd dateRef.9 October 2015FWBury5 November 2015 6 November 2015DFStockport County6 January 2016 6 January 2016FWLincoln City31 May 2016 28 January 2016MFAscoli31 May 2016
Transfers out DatePositionNameToFeeRef.30 June 2015GKGuiseleyReleased30 June 2015DFScunthorpe UnitedReleased30 June 2015MFBrøndbyReleased30 June 2015DFSheffield WednesdayReleased30 June 2015DFNorwich CityReleased30 June 2015GKChesterfieldReleased30 June 2015GK Released30 June 2015MFGuiseleyReleased30 June 2015MFStevenageReleased30 June 2015MFRotherham UnitedReleased 25 July 2015FWSheffield United£500,0004 August 2015FWMillwallFree transfer 2 September 2015FWSwindon TownContract termination 23 November 2015GKD.C. UnitedContract termination 20 January 2016DFWest Ham UnitedUndisclosed26 January 2016MFRotherham UnitedContract termination 31 March 2016FW Contract termination
New contracts
Pre-season Leeds United confirmed pre-season fixtures against Athletic Bilbao and Hoffenheim, the game originally scheduled against Athletic Bilbao was changed to Eintracht Frankfurt due to the Spanish side's commitments in the Europa League qualifiers.
Leeds United later confirmed games against Harrogate Town, York City and Everton.
Competitions
Overall summary
Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by matchday
Matches On 17 June, the Championship fixtures were announced.
FA Cup Leeds United were drawn at home to Rotherham United in the third round, away to Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round and away to Watford in the fifth round.
League Cup
Leeds United were drawn away to Doncaster Rovers in the first round.
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|colspan="14"|Players currently out on loan:
|colspan="17"|Players who have been available for selection this season, but have now permanently left the club:
Source: Sky Sports
Top scorers PlacePositionNationalityNumberNameChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal 1 FW 9 Chris Wood 13 0 0 13 2 FW 7 Mirco Antenucci 9 0 0 93 FW 11 Souleymane Doukara 3 2 0 5 MF 15 Stuart Dallas 5 0 0 5 4 DF 3 Sol Bamba 4 0 0 45 DF 2 Sam Byram1 3 0 0 3 MF 16 Toumani Diagouraga 2 1 036 MF 24 Tom Adeyemi 2 0 0 2 MF 18 Mustapha Carayol 1 1 0 2 MF 23 Lewis Cook 1 0 1 2Own goal 2 0 0 2 MF 10 Alex Mowatt 2 0 0 27 DF 6 Liam Cooper 1 0 0 1 MF 8 Luke Murphy 1 0 0 1 DF 21 Charlie Taylor 1 0 0 1TOTALS 50 4 1 55 Byram joined West Ham United on 20 January 2016.
Disciplinary record Last Updated: 23 April 2016 NationNameLewis Cook101Gaetano Berardi51Alex Mowatt41Marco Silvestri11Giuseppe Bellusci130Sol Bamba90Liam Bridcutt80Toumani Diagouraga830Mirco Antenucci70Sam Byram170Liam Cooper60Luke Murphy50Scott Wootton50Tom Adeyemi40Mustapha Carayol320Stuart Dallas30Charlie Taylor30Kalvin Phillips20Lewie Coyle10Chris Wood10 1Byram joined West Ham United on 20 January 2016. 2Carayol picked up two yellows during his previous loan spell at Huddersfield Town, before joining Leeds. 3Diagouraga picked up six yellows at Brentford, before joining Leeds.
Suspensions served As of 12 April 2016 Date Matches Missed Player Reason Opponents Missed13 August 20153Lewis Cook vs Doncaster (LC)Reading (A), Bristol City (A), Sheffield Wednesday (H)29 October 20151Sol Bamba vs Blackburn (H)Cardiff (H)21 November 20152Gaetano Berardi vs Rotherham (H)QPR (A), Hull (H)20 February 20162Giuseppe Bellusci vs Watford (FA)Fulham (H), Brighton (A)31 March 20168Souleymane DoukaraViolent conduct vs Fulham (H)Rotherham (A), QPR (H), Burnley (A), Birmingham (A), Reading (H), Wolves (H), Hull (A), Charlton (H) 2 April 20161Marco Silvestri vs Rotherham (A)QPR (H)12 April 20163Alex Mowatt vs Birmingham (A)Reading (H), Wolves (H), Hull (A)
Captains
Awards
Internal Awards
Official Player of the Year Awards
The results of the 2015–16 Leeds United F.C. Player of the Year Awards were announced at a dinner on 30 April 2016 at Elland Road.
Fans' Player of the Year: Charlie Taylor Young Player of the Year: Lewis Cook Players' Player of the Year: Stuart Dallas Goal of the Season: Lewis Cook (vs Fulham, 23 February 2016)
References