2015–16 Stoke City F.C. season
The 2015–16 season was Stoke City's eighth season in the Premier League and the 60th in the top tier of English football.
| 2015–16 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Peter Coates | |||
| Manager | Mark Hughes | |||
| Stadium | Britannia Stadium | |||
| Premier League | 9th (51 points) | |||
| FA Cup | Fourth round | |||
| League Cup | Semi-final | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Marko Arnautović (11) All: Marko Arnautović (12) | |||
| Highest home attendance | 27,833 v Southampton (12 March 2016) | |||
| Lowest home attendance | 26,747 v West Bromwich Albion (29 August 2015) | |||
| Average home league attendance | 27,534 | |||
| ||||
After finishing ninth in 2014–15 for a second season running, Mark Hughes made a number of alterations to his squad in preparation for the 2015–16 campaign. Leaving the club were the long-serving trio of Asmir Begović, Robert Huth and Steven Nzonzi with Stoke receiving their record transfer fee in the process. With the money available Hughes broke Stoke's transfer record paying Inter Milan £12 million for Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri. He brought in Spanish striker Joselu for £5.75 million and Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay. Also arriving at the Britannia Stadium were Shay Given, Jakob Haugaard, Glen Johnson and Marco van Ginkel.
Stoke made a poor start to their campaign as they failed to win any of their opening six matches, losing home matches 1–0 against Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion and drawing away against Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur. City also lost to Arsenal and drew at home to Leicester City before claiming their first win against Bournemouth, which was followed up with away victories against Aston Villa and Swansea City. In December Stoke beat both Manchester clubs 2–0 and won 4–3 away at Everton as Stoke ended 2015 in a top half position.
Stoke also had a good run in the League Cup where after knocking out Luton Town, Fulham, Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday they lost to Liverpool on penalties in the semi-final. Stoke were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Crystal Palace, and with both cup exits sandwiched between three consecutive 3–0 Premier League defeats it rounded up a poor start to 2016 for the Potters.
In the January transfer window Stoke broke their transfer record set in the summer paying Porto £18.3 million for midfielder Giannelli Imbula whilst Steve Sidwell and Marco van Ginkel both departed. Stoke's form improved as they defeated Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Watford whilst they managed to claim their first Premier League point at Chelsea. However following an injury to Jack Butland Stoke lost their defensive solidarity conceding four goals in three consecutive matches against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City earning the team much criticism. They were able to recover though and defeated West Ham United on the final day to finish in ninth position for a third season running.