| Club: | Central Coast Mariners |
| Season: | 2015–16 |
| Manager: | Tony Walmsley |
| Chairman: | Michael Charlesworth |
| Stadium: | Central Coast Stadium |
| League: | A-League |
| League Result: | 10th |
| Cup1: | A-League Finals Series |
| Cup2: | FFA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Round of 32 |
| League Topscorer: | Roy O'Donovan (8 goals) |
| Highest Attendance: | 14,268 vs. Melbourne Victory (8 January 2016) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,514 vs. Melbourne City (3 December 2015) |
| Average Attendance: | 8,111 |
| Prevseason: | 2014–15 |
| Nextseason: | 2016–17 |
The 2015–16 Central Coast Mariners FC season was the club's 11th season since its establishment in 2004. The club participated in the A-League for the 11th time and the FFA Cup for the 2nd time.
The Mariners entered the 2015–16 season with significant change, following a relatively unsuccessful 2014–15 season. It was announced in April 2015 that Tony Walmsley would be given the permanent manager position, having previously filled the role in an interim capacity.[1] Nick Montgomery was named club captain following the retirement of long-serving midfielder John Hutchinson in May 2015.[2] There was also significant early activity in the transfer market, with a number of players released.[3] The most notable of these was striker and club-record goalscorer Matt Simon.[4] The club's first signing of the season was Irish former Premier League striker Roy O'Donovan.[5] In July, after ten seasons with the club as a player, goalkeeping coach and assistant coach, John Crawley left the club to take up a position at Sydney FC. His position was taken by the retiring Matthew Nash, whose place in the squad was taken in turn by former Adelaide United and Young Socceroos goalkeeper Paul Izzo.[6]
The Mariners won their opening pre-season friendly, a 2–1 victory over F3 Derby rivals Newcastle Jets in a training match.[7] This was followed by a win over Western Sydney Wanderers two days later, with triallist Dan Heffernan scoring a hat-trick.[8]
Central Coast were eliminated in the first round of the 2015 FFA Cup by Wellington Phoenix, an error from goalkeeper Paul Izzo and a missed penalty from Roy O'Donovan consigning the team to a 1–0 loss.[9]
The club had a pre-season tour to Canberra in mid-August, which saw them pick up wins over Canberra Olympic and Gungahlin United.[10]
The Mariners started the 2015–16 A-League season with a win over Perth Glory. After Roy O'Donovan scored the opening goal of the season from a rebound, two second-half penalties scored by Fábio Ferreira gave Central Coast a 3–2 win.[11]
| Position | Staff | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach Technical director |  Tony Walmsley | |
| Assistant coach |  John Hutchinson | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Matthew Nash | |
| Strength and conditioning coach | Brice Johnson | |
| Physiotherapist | Andrew Nealon | |
| Youth football coach |  Stu Jacobs | |
| Head of sports science | Tim Knight |
|-|colspan="19"|Players no longer at the club:
| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-League | — | 10th | 10 October 2015 | 9 April 2015 | |
| FFA Cup | Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 11 August 2015 | 11 August 2015 |
See main article: 2015–16 A-League.
See main article: 2015 FFA Cup.