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.
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
| 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
- Additionally, referee kits are made by Umbro.
Transfers
Managerial changes
Foreign players
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 ;
2Australian citizens who have chosen to represent another national team;
3Injury Replacement Players, or National Team Replacement Players;
4Guest Players
Salary cap exemptions and captains
| Club | First Marquee | Second Marquee | Mature Age Rookie | Loyalty Players | Captain | Vice-Captain |
| Adelaide United |  Eugene Galekovic |  Marcelo Carrusca | None | None | Eugene Galekovic | Bruce Djite |
| Brisbane Roar | Matt McKay |  Thomas Broich | None | None | Matt McKay |  Shane Stefanutto |
| Central Coast Mariners |  Luis García | None | None | None |  Nick Montgomery | None |
| Melbourne City | Aaron Mooy | None | Wade Dekker | None | Patrick Kisnorbo | None |
| Melbourne Victory | Oliver Bozanic |  Besart Berisha | Jai Ingham | Archie Thompson | Carl Valeri | Leigh Broxham |
| Newcastle Jets | None | None | None | None | Nigel Boogaard |  Mateo Poljak |
| Perth Glory | Diego Castro | Michael Thwaite | None | None | Richard Garcia | None |
| Sydney FC | Alex Brosque |  Filip Hološko | Alex Mullen | None | Alex Brosque |  Shane Smeltz Jacques Faty |
| Wellington Phoenix | None | None | Troy Danaskos | None | Andrew Durante | Ben Sigmund |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | Dario Vidošić |  Federico Piovaccari | None | None | Nikolai Topor-Stanley | Mark Bridge |
The following concessions to the salary cap were introduced for this season:
- 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 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
Results
Positions by round
Finals series
The Grand Final winner qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League group stageElimination-finals
Semi-finals
Grand Final
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.By round
| 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:
Club membership
Player stats
Top scorers
| 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 |
| 6 |  Andy Keogh | Perth Glory | 10 |
| 6 | Mitch Nichols | Western Sydney Wanderers | 10 |
| 6 |  Harry Novillo | Melbourne City | 10 |
| 6 | Brendon Šantalab | Western Sydney Wanderers | 10 |
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| Blake Powell4 | Wellington Phoenix | Western Sydney Wanderers | 5–2 | 14 February 2016 | |
| Bruno Fornaroli | Melbourne City | Sydney FC | 3–0 | 5 March 2016 | |
| Jamie Maclaren | Brisbane Roar | Melbourne Victory | 5–0 | 12 March 2016 | |
 Romeo Castelen | Western Sydney Wanderers | Brisbane Roar | 5–4 | 24 April 2016 |
;Note
4 Player scored 4 goals
Own goals
| 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
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Eugene Galekovic | Adelaide United | 12 |
| 2 | Vedran Janjetović | Sydney FC | 8 |
| 3 | Andrew Redmayne | Western Sydney Wanderers | 7 |
| 3 | Danny Vukovic | Melbourne Victory | 7 |
| 3 |  Jamie Young | Brisbane Roar | 7 |
| 6 | Ante Covic | Perth Glory | 5 |
| 7 |  Thomas Sørensen | Melbourne City | 4 |
| 8 | Mark Birighitti | Newcastle Jets | 3 |
| 8 | Glen Moss | Wellington Phoenix | 3 |
| 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.| Club | ||||
| 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 |
Awards
NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award
The NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award was awarded to the finest U-23 player talent throughout the Hyundai A-League 2015–16 competition, based on a monthly nominee| Month | Nominee | Club |
| October 2015 | Brandon Borrello | Brisbane Roar |
| November 2015 | Alex Gersbach | Sydney FC |
| December 2015 | Jamie Maclaren | Brisbane Roar |
| January 2016 | Dimitri Petratos | Brisbane Roar |
| February 2016 | Stefan Mauk | Adelaide United |
| March 2016 | Jason Geria | Melbourne Victory |
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.- 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
- 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