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      VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE
2015/16
      P W D L F A Pts
 

Leading League goalscorers:
Pádraig Amond
(Grimsby Town)
 and
Dan Holman
(Cheltenham Town)
 30  goals each

A change of name for the Conference with it becoming the National League from the start of the 2015/16 season. It certainly had a 'Division 5' look about it with over half the members clubs being either ex-Football League sides or ex-League Phoenix clubs.

It was the recent ex-Football League sides who dominated things in 2015/16. A year after being relegated  Cheltenham Town were back in the Football League after winning the National League title. Helped by a 22 match unbeaten League run which started in September the 101 points they won saw them comfortably finish ahead of runners-up Forest Green Rovers.

Forest Green also finished second-best in the play offs. They were beaten 3-1 by Grimsby Town in the play-off final in front of 17,198 at Wembley which saw the Mariners regain the Football League place they had lost in 2010. A week later Grimsby were at Wembley again - the attendance being 46,781 - but this time suffered a 1-0 defeat against FC Halifax Town in the FA Trophy Final.

Top League crowd of the season was 7,650 for Grimsby v Lincoln with the highest average of the season being 5,214 at Tranmere Rovers - definitely worthy of Division 5!

   1 Cheltenham Town 46 30 11 5 87 30 101 Promoted
    2 Forest Green Rovers 46 26 11 9 69 42 89 Play Off
    3 Braintree Town 46 23 12 11 56 38 81 Play Off
    4 Grimsby Town 46 22 14 10 82 45 80 Promoted
    5 Dover Athletic 46 23 11 12 75 53 80 Play Off
    6 Tranmere Rovers 46 22 12 12 61 44 78

    7 Eastleigh 46 21 12 13 64 53 75
    8 Wrexham 46 20 9 17 71 56 69
    9 Gateshead 46 19 10 17 59 70 67
    10 Macclesfield Town 46 19 9 18 60 48 66
    11 Barrow 46 17 14 15 64 71 65

    12 Woking 46 17 10 19 71 68 61
    13 Lincoln City 46 16 13 17 69 68 61
    14 Bromley 46 17 9 20 67 72 60

    15 Aldershot Town 46 16 8 22 54 72 56
    16 Southport 46 14 13 19 52 65 55
    17 Chester 46 14 12 20 67 71 54
    18 Torquay United 46 13 12 21 54 76 51
    19 Boreham Wood 46 12 14 20 44 49 50
    20 Guiseley 46 11 16 19 47 70 49
    21 FC Halifax Town 46 12 12 22 55 82 48 Relegated
    22 Altrincham 46 10 14 22 48 73 44 Relegated
    23 Kidderminster Harriers 46 9 13 24 49 71 40

Relegated
    24 Welling United 46 8 11 27 35 73 35 Relegated
   
   

Promoted Promoted
Champions Cheltenham Town were automatically promoted to the Football League.  Grimsby Town were promoted to the Football League through the play-offs. Dagenham & Redbridge and York City were relegated from the Football League to the National League.

Relegated
Altrincham, Halifax Town and Kidderminster Harriers were relegated to the National League North and Welling United to the Southern division. Taking their places in the 2016/17 National League were Northern champions Solihull Moors and play-off winners North Ferribly and from the National League South the champions were Sutton United and play-off winners Maidstone United.
   
   
Play Off Semi Finals Play Off
1st Leg
Wed May 4 Dover Athletic 0 - 1 Forest Green Rovers
Thu May 5 Grimsby Town 0 - 1 Braintree Town
2nd Leg
Sat May 7 Forest Green Rovers 1 - 1 Dover Athletic
Sun May 8 Braintree Town 0 - 2 Grimsby Town
Aggregate scores
Forest Green Rovers 2 - 1 Dover Athletic
Grimsby Town 2 - 1 Braintree Town
Play Off Final
(at Wembley Stadium)
Sun May 15 Grimsby Town 3 - 1 Forest Green Rovers
Grimsby Town were promoted to the Football League.