2015–16 Bradford City A.F.C. season
# 2015–16 Bradford City A.F.C. season

The 2015–16 season will be Bradford City's 113th season in their history, their 101st in the Football League and 103rd in the English football league system. Along with League One, the club will also compete in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. The new kits were announced in April 2015 – a claret and amber checked home kit, and an all-black away kit.

## Pre-Season Friendlies

On 5 June 2015, Bradford City announced their first pre-season friendly against Guiseley. On 10 July 2015, the club confirmed as part of the Scotland tour they will face St Mirren. A day later the Bantams announced they will play host to Carlisle United on 25 July 2015. A pre-season friendly against Burnley was confirmed on 12 June 2015. On 19 June 2015, Bradford City confirmed a friendly against Farsley. On 30 June 2015, the Bantams confirmed their second friendly during the week-long stay in Scotland. On 20 July 2015, Bradford City announced they will send a XI side to Ossett Albion. On 23 July 2015, Bradford announced another friendly addition against Whitby Town.

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 11 July 2015 | Farsley Celtic | A | 3–0 | Hanson (2) 19', 27', Watt 36' | – |
| 14 July 2015 | Motherwell | A | 3–0 | Leigh 45', Sheehan 63', Hanson 70' | – |
| 18 July 2015 | St Mirren | A | 1–0 | B.Clarke 15' | – |
| 21 July 2015 | Guiseley | A | 1–2 | Drury 34' | – |
| 25 July 2015 | Carlisle United | H | 2–0 | Morris 58', Liddle 72' | – |
| 28 July 2015 | Whitby Town | A | 0–1 | | |
| 1 August 2015 | Burnley | A | 0–2 | | |

## League One

### Matches

On 17 June 2015, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance | Position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 8 August 2015 | Swindon Town | A | 1–4 | Morris 4' | 8,090 | 23rd |
| 15 August 2015 | Shrewsbury Town | H | 1–1 | B. Clarke 43' | 18,039 | 24th |
| 18 August 2015 | Gillingham | H | 1–2 | Hanson 7' | 17,496 | 24th |
| 22 August 2015 | Barnsley | A | 0–0 | | 10,342 | 22nd |
| 29 August 2015 | Port Vale | H | 1–0 | Cole 90' | 17,806 | 16th |
| 5 September 2015 | Oldham Athletic | A | 2–1 | Burke 21', Cole 63' | 5,619 | 11th |
| 12 September 2015 | Fleetwood Town | A | 1–1 | Hanson 20' | 4,044 | 14th |
| 20 September 2015 | Sheffield United | H | 2–2 | Meredith 33', Cole 47' | 19,317 | 12th |
| 26 September 2015 | Peterborough United | H | 0–2 | | 17,970 | 18th |
| 29 September 2015 | Colchester United | A | 0–2 | | 3,334 | 19th |
| 3 October 2015 | Rochdale | A | 3–1 | Evans 34', Cole 59', Lancashire 61' (o.g.) | 4,534 | 16th |
| 17 October 2015 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 1–0 | Cole 1' | 8,410 | 15th |
| 20 October 2015 | Bury | H | 2–1 | McArdle 45', Brown 51' (o.g.) | 17,575 | 11th |
| 24 October 2015 | Wigan Athletic | H | 1–1 | Hanson 63' | 19,171 | 14th |
| 31 October 2015 | Millwall | A | 0–0 | | 9,367 | 14th |
| 3 November 2015 | Blackpool | H | 1–0 | Hanson 45' | 17,435 | 9th |
| 14 November 2015 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 2–0 | Liddle 45', B.Clarke 58' | 17,546 | 7th |
| 21 November 2015 | Scunthorpe United | A | 2–0 | McMahon 28' (pen.), Leigh 52' | 4,865 | 7th |
| 24 November 2015 | Coventry City | H | 0–0 | | 17,757 | 6th |
| 28 November 2015 | Walsall | A | 1–2 | Evans 64' | 4,668 | 9th |
| 19 December 2015 | Chesterfield | A | 1–0 | McMahon 72' | 6,795 | 8th |
| 28 December 2015 | Sheffield United | A | 1–3 | Liddle 83' | 24,777 | 10th |
| 2 January 2016 | Gillingham | A | 0–3 | | 6,446 | 12th |
| 16 January 2016 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | McMahon 50' | 18,522 | 10th |
| 23 January 2016 | Port Vale | A | 1–1 | Proctor 65' | 4,849 | 10th |
| 26 January 2016 | Barnsley | H | 0–1 | | 17,470 | 11th |
| 30 January 2016 | Fleetwood Town | H | 2–1 | Hanson 67', Davies 90+3' | 17,554 | 10th |
| 6 February 2016 | Burton Albion | A | 1–3 | McArdle 90+2' | 3,796 | 12th |
| 13 February 2016 | Peterborough United | A | 4–0 | Hanson (2) 45', 68', Reid 56', Davies 77' | 5,816 | 11th |
| 16 February 2016 | Southend United | H | 2–0 | McMahon 17', Hanson 74' | 17,701 | 8th |
| 20 February 2016 | Rochdale | H | 2–2 | McArdle 40', Davies 62' | 17,936 | 8th |
| 27 February 2016 | Blackpool | A | 1–0 | Reid 54' | 8,780 | 7th |
| 1 March 2016 | Colchester United | H | 1–2 | Thomas 17' | 16,786 | 9th |
| 5 March 2016 | Bury | A | 0–0 | | 4,036 | 8th |
| 8 March 2016 | Burton Albion | H | 2–0 | Reid 13', Burke 28' | 17,500 | 7th |
| 12 March 2016 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 2–1 | Proctor (2) 7', 49' | 17,889 | 6th |
| 19 March 2016 | Wigan Athletic | A | 0–1 | | 10,890 | 7th |
| 26 March 2016 | Millwall | H | 1–0 | Davies 79' | 18,538 | 6th |
| 28 March 2016 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–0 | Proctor 50' | 5,320 | 6th |
| 2 April 2016 | Scunthorpe United | H | 1–0 | Davies 68' | 17,873 | 5th |
| 9 April 2016 | Swindon Town | H | 1–0 | B.Clarke 20' | 18,043 | 3rd |
| 16 April 2016 | Shrewsbury Town | A | 1–1 | Proctor 71' | 6,247 | 4th |
| 23 April 2016 | Walsall | H | 4–0 | Morais 54', Hanson (3) 58', 72', 73' | 19,336 | 5th |
| 30 April 2016 | Southend United | A | 1–0 | Evans 12' | 8,571 | 5th |
| 8 May 2016 | Chesterfield | H | 2–0 | Evans 7', B.Clarke 87' | 20,807 | 5th |

### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 3 | Walsall | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 71 | 49 | +22 | 84 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 4 | Millwall | 46 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 73 | 49 | +24 | 81 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 5 | Bradford City | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 80 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 6 | Barnsley (O, P) | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 70 | 54 | +16 | 74 | Qualification for the League One play-offs |
| 7 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 60 | 47 | +13 | 74 | |

* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to Football League Championship.

### Play-offs

After finishing fifth in League One, City were entered into the end-of-season play-offs to determine who would get promoted to Championship for the 2016–17 season. Bradford were against fourth-placed Millwall in the semi-finals and played them over two legs.

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 May 2016 | Semi-final First leg | Millwall | H | 1–3 | McMahon 13' (pen.) | 19,241 |
| 20 May 2016 | Semi-final First leg | Millwall | A | 1–1 | Proctor 44' | 16,301 |

## FA Cup

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 8 November 2015 | Round 1 | Aldershot Town | A | 0–0 | | 2,640 |
| 18 November 2015 | Round 1 replay | Aldershot Town | H | 2–0 | Leigh 61', McMahon 76' (pen.) | 2,930 |
| 6 December 2015 | Round 2 | Chesham | H | 4–0 | Reid 22', Hanson 43', Liddle 90', Cole 90' | 6,047 |
| 9 January 2016 | Round 3 | Bury | A | 0–0 | | 6,962 |
| 19 January 2016 | Round 3 replay | Bury | H | 0–0 (2–4p) | | 6,227 |

## League Cup

On 16 June 2015, the first round draw was made, Bradford City were drawn away against York City.

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 11 August 2015 | Round 1 | York City | A | 2–2 (2–4p) | Routis 21', Hanson 90' | 4,201 |

## Football League Trophy

On 5 September 2015, the second round draw was shown live on Soccer AM and drawn by Charlie Austin and Ed Skrein. Bradford will host Barnsley.

| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F–A | Scorers | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 13 October 2015 | Round 2 | Barnsley | H | 1–2 | Knott 22' | 4,127 |

## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | | |
| 1 | GK | Ben Williams | 44 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Stephen Darby | 47 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | James Meredith | 40(3) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43(3) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Lee Evans | 35(1) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 38(2) | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Nathan Clarke | 20(6) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 24(6) | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | Alan Sheehan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Mark Marshall | 8(23) | 0 | 2(3) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12(26) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Gary Liddle | 17(3) | 2 | 3(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22(4) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | James Hanson | 30(10) | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0(1) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 35(11) | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Billy Clarke | 21(8) | 4 | 3(2) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24(11) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Billy Knott | 17(7) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21(7) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Josh Cullen | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Josh Morris | 7(5) | 1 | 0(2) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7(8) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Greg Leigh | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | Reece Burke | 33 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Kyel Reid | 33(2) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36(2) | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | Christopher Routis | 9(2) | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12(3) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | Jamie Proctor | 14(5) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13(5) | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Filipe Morais | 3(4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3(4) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Tom Thorpe | 2(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | Brad Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Rory McArdle | 36 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | Steve Davies | 6(19) | 5 | 0(1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 7(21) | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | Sam Wright | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Paul Anderson | 5(8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(8) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Joe Brennan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Dylan Mottley-Henry | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | Tony McMahon | 40(1) | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47(1) | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| 30 | GK | Joe Cracknell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | James King | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | Luke James | 1(8) | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4(10) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | FW | Reece Webb-Foster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | Wes Thomas | 6(4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6(4) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 44 | FW | Devante Cole | 12(7) | 5 | 2(2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 14(10) | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| - | FW | Jonathan Lewis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | FW | Jordan Bowery | 1(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 2 | – | – |

Statistics accurate as of 20 May 2016

## Transfers

### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Steve Davies | Blackpool | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LM | Josh Morris | Blackburn Rovers | Free transfer |
| 3 July 2015 | RB | Tony McMahon | Blackpool | Free transfer |
| 7 July 2015 | CF | Jonathan Lewis | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Free transfer |
| 13 July 2015 | LM | Mark Marshall | Port Vale | Free transfer |
| 28 July 2015 | CB | Nathan Clarke | Leyton Orient | Free transfer |
| 1 August 2015 | RW | Paul Anderson | Ipswich Town | Free transfer |
| 6 August 2015 | GK | Joe Cracknell | Hull City | Free transfer |
| 6 August 2015 | LB | Greg Leigh | Manchester City | Free transfer |
| 17 August 2015 | GK | Brad Jones | Liverpool | Free transfer |
| 28 August 2015 | CF | Devante Cole | Manchester City | Free transfer |
| 1 February 2016 | CF | Jamie Proctor | Fleetwood Town | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 July 2015 | CB | Andrew Davies | Ross County | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | DM | Matthew Dolan | Yeovil Town | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | AM | Andy Halliday | Rangers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CM | Jason Kennedy | Carlisle United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Aaron McLean | Barnet | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | GK | Matt Urwin | Free Agent | Released |
| 13 July 2015 | CF | Oli McBurnie | Swansea City | Undisclosed |
| 25 August 2015 | RW | Mark Yeates | Oldham Athletic | Free transfer |
| 22 January 2016 | CF | Devante Cole | Fleetwood Town | £75,000 |
| 1 February 2016 | MF | Gary Liddle | Chesterfield | Undisclosed |

* ↑ Following Dolan's release he joined Yeovil Town.
* ↑ Following McLean's release he joined Barnet.

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 July 2015 | CF | Luke James | Peterborough United | End of season |
| 20 August 2015 | CB | Reece Burke | West Ham United | 20 September 2015 |
| 20 August 2015 | CM | Lee Evans | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 9 January 2016 |
| 22 January 2016 | CF | Jamie Proctor | Fleetwood Town | 1 February 2016 |
| 29 January 2016 | CF | Wes Thomas | Birmingham City | 29 April 2016 |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 25 September 2015 | LB | Alan Sheehan | Notts County | 26 December 2015 |
| 26 September 2015 | ST | Jon Lewis | Farsley Celtic | 24 October 2015 |
| 22 January 2016 | LB | Alan Sheehan | Luton Town | 31 July 2016 |
