2015–16 Welsh Premier League
| Season | 2015–16 |
|---|---|
| Champions | The New Saints (10th title) |
| Relegated |
Port Talbot Town Haverfordwest County |
| Champions League | The New Saints |
| Europa League |
Bala Town Llandudno Connah's Quay Nomads |
| Matches played | 180 |
| Goals scored | 529 (2.94 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |
 Chris Venables (20) |
| Biggest home win |
Connah's Quay Nomads 5–0 Port Talbot Town (12 December 2015) The New Saints 5–0 Airbus UK Broughton (27 February 2016) Rhyl 5–0 Port Talbot Town (9 April 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Newtown 0–6 The New Saints (13 February 2016) |
| Longest unbeaten run | The New Saints (21) |
|
← 2014–15 2016–17 →
All statistics correct as of 9 April 2016. | |
The 2015–16 Welsh Premier League (known as the Dafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints were the defending champions.
Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league was split into two groups at the end of January 2016 – the top six and the bottom six.
Teams
Cefn Druids and Prestatyn Town were relegated out of the Welsh Premier League the previous season, while Llandudno were promoted as winners of the Cymru Alliance and Haverfordwest County were promoted as winners of Welsh Football League Division One. It will be Llandudno's debut campaign in the league.
Stadia and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | Aberystwyth | Park Avenue | 5,000 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | Broughton | The Airfield | 1,600 |
| Bala Town | Bala | Maes Tegid | 3,000 |
| Bangor City | Bangor | Nantporth | 3,000 |
| Carmarthen Town | Carmarthen | Richmond Park | 3,000 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Connah's Quay | Deeside Stadium | 1,500 |
| Haverfordwest County | Haverfordwest | Bridge Meadow Stadium | 2,000 |
| Llandudno | Llandudno | Park MBi Maesdu | 1,013 |
| Newtown | Newtown | Latham Park | 5,000 |
| Port Talbot Town | Port Talbot | Victoria Road | 6,000 |
| Rhyl | Rhyl | The Corbett Sports Stadium | 3,000 |
| The New Saints | Oswestry | Park Hall | 2,000 |
Personnel and kits
| Team | Head Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth |  Ian Hughes | Stuart Jones | Nike | Cambrian Tyres |
| Airbus UK | Andy Preece | Andy Jones | Macron | Gardner Aerospace |
| Bala | Colin Caton |  Conall Murtagh | Joma | Aykroyd's |
| Bangor | Neville Powell | Leon Clowes | Macron | Dafydd Hardy (home) Anglesey Sea Zoo (away) |
| Carmarthen | Mark Aizlewood | Kyle Bassett | Macron | Jeff White (home) Natwest Cymru (away) |
| Connah's Quay Nomads |  Andy Morrison | George Horan | Macron | Driving Force |
| Haverfordwest County | David Hughes | Dale Griffiths | Kappa | West Wales Properties.co.uk |
| Llandudno | Alan Morgan | Tom Dix | Adidas | The UPVC Outlet |
| Newtown | Chris Hughes | Matthew Cook | Givova | NEO/Elephant & Castle Hotel |
| Port Talbot | Andy Dyer | Liam McCreesh | Macron | Blanco's |
| Rhyl | Gareth Owen | Dean Keates | Adidas | VanTruck |
| TNS | Carl Darlington | Paul Harrison | Legea | PlanetHippo |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The New Saints (C) | 32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 72 | 24 | +48 | 64 | Qualification to Champions League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 2] |
| 2 | Bala Town | 32 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 48 | 27 | +21 | 57 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Llandudno | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 52 | |
| 4 | Connah's Quay Nomads (O) | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 48 | Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 3] |
| 5 | Newtown | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 54 | −8 | 42 | |
| 6 | Airbus UK Broughton | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 42 | |
| 7 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 14 | 5 | 13 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 47 | Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 3] |
| 8 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 46 | |
| 9 | Bangor City | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 45 | |
| 10 | Port Talbot Town (R) | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 56 | −17 | 39 | Relegation to Welsh Division One[lower-alpha 4] |
| 11 | Rhyl | 32 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 36 | 50 | −14 | 27 | |
| 12 | Haverfordwest County (R) | 32 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 57 | −30 | 21 | Relegation to Welsh Division One[lower-alpha 4] |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Matches won; 5) Play-off.[2]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
- ↑ Teams played each other twice (22 matches), before the league was split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches.
- ↑ The New Saints qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Welsh Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
- 1 2 Teams played for a spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.
- 1 2 Rhyl were spared from relegation as Port Talbot Town failed to obtain a FAW domestic licence[1].
Results
Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.
Matches 1–22
| Home ╲ Away | ABE | AIR | BAL | BAN | CMR | CQN | HAV | LND | NTW | PTA | RHL | TNS |
| Aberystwyth Town | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 0–4 | |
| Airbus UK Broughton | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Bala Town | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Bangor City | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Carmarthen Town | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–6 | |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | |
| Haverfordwest County | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | |
| Llandudno | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 | |
| Newtown | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | |
| Port Talbot Town | 4–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | |
| Rhyl | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | |
| The New Saints | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
Source: Welsh Premier League
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Matches 23–32
|
Top six
Source: Welsh Premier League |
Bottom six
Source: Welsh Premier League |
UEFA Europa League play-offs
Teams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season participated in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, who will qualify for the first qualifying round.[3]
Semi-finals
Final
References
The league's rules are contained as a section of the Handbook of the Football Association of Wales.[4]
- ↑ "FAW Club Licensing Appeals Body". welshpremier.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ↑ "Premier League 2015/2016 - Season rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
- ↑ http://www.welshpremier.co.uk/news/Play-Offs-rest-on-Cup-Final-Winner/103537/
- ↑ http://faw.org.uk/uploads/documents/originals/FAW_WELSHPREMLEAG_2013.pdf