| Club: | Adelaide United |
| Season: | 2015–16 |
| Chairman: | Greg Griffin |
| Manager: | Guillermo Amor |
| Stadium: | Adelaide Oval Coopers Stadium |
| League: | A-League |
| League Result: | Premiers |
| Cup1: | A-League Finals |
| Cup1 Result: | Champions |
| Cup2: | FFA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Quarter-finals |
| Cup3: | AFC Champions League |
| Cup3 Result: | Qualifying play-off |
| League Topscorer: | Bruce Djite (9) |
| Season Topscorer: | Bruce Djite Pablo Sánchez (11) |
| Highest Attendance: | 50,119 (1 May 2016) A-League Grand Final |
| Lowest Attendance: | 5,066 vs. Sydney FC (26 August 2015) FFA Cup |
| Average Attendance: | 11,287[1] |
| Largest Win: | 6–1 vs. Darwin Olympic (A) (5 August 2015) FFA Cup |
| Largest Loss: | 0–3 vs. Brisbane Roar (A) (31 October 2015) A-League |
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| Prevseason: | 2014–15 |
| Nextseason: | 2016–17 |
The 2015–16 season was the 12th in the history of Adelaide United Football Club since its establishment in 2003. The club participated in the A-League for the 11th time, the FFA Cup for the second time and the AFC Champions League for the fifth time.
Ahead of the season, manager Josep Gombau stood down, citing family reasons. He was replaced by the club's technical director, Guillermo Amor, in his first senior managerial role.[2] Adelaide United were knocked out of the FFA Cup in the quarter-finals by rivals Melbourne Victory, their first loss in the competition's history. Two and a half weeks later, Adelaide would begin their season by hosting Victory at Adelaide Oval, a match that ended 0–0. The Reds went winless in their first eight games and sat 13 points from the top of the ladder. From round nine onwards, the club went on a 14-match unbeaten run, which saw them sit atop the ladder by the end of it, following a 4–0 win over Wellington Phoenix. A loss to Melbourne City and a draw with the Western Sydney Wanderers put their title charge in doubt. Adelaide won their remaining three matches and thanks to Melbourne Victory's draw with Brisbane Roar in the final round, Adelaide United were premiers by a solitary point.
Adelaide played Melbourne City in the semi-final. After a scoreless first half, Bruce Djite broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, curling the ball into the top right corner from outside the box. Djite would double their lead from the penalty spot 12 minutes later. Fitzgerald pulled a goal back for Melbourne City, but late goals from Dylan McGowan and Pablo Sánchez saw Adelaide into their third Grand Final, which would also be their first time hosting the match. Second-placed Western Sydney Wanderers travelled to Adelaide Oval for the Grand Final. Bruce Kamau scored in the 21st minute and won a free kick that was converted by Isaías in the 32nd minute. Scott Neville's goal just shy of the hour mark brought the Wanderers back into the game, but Adelaide held on, with Pablo Sánchez eventually scoring Adelaide's third to seal the win. This was Adelaide United's first Australian title, and to this day, their last Grand Final they have played in.
Despite the success, Adelaide lost numerous key players ahead of next season, including Bruce Kamau, Pablo Sánchez, Craig Goodwin, Stefan Mauk and Bruce Djite.
| Position | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Head coach |  Guillermo Amor | |
| Assistant coaches | Pau Martí Michael Valkanis | |
| General manager | Ante Kovacevic | |
| Goalkeeping coach | Peter Blazincic | |
| High performance manager | Greg King | |
| Club doctor | James Ilic | |
| Head trainer | Peter Duke | |
| Head physiotherapist | Peter Chitti |
| No. | Position | Player | From | Type/fee | Contract length | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Western Sydney Wanderers | Free transfer | 2 years | 27 June 2015 | [3] | |||
| 14 | Free transfer | 1 year | 4 July 2015 | [4] | ||||
| 19 | Loan | 1 year | 26 July 2015 | [5] | ||||
| 17 | Unattached | Free transfer | 1 year | 16 August 2015 | [6] | |||
| 6 | Melbourne City | Player swap | 2.5 years | 23 January 2016 | [7] | |||
| 18 | Unattached | Guest player | 1 week | 3 February 2016 | [8] |
| No. | Position | Player | To | Type/fee | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Newcastle Jets | Free transfer | 30 June 2015 | [9] [10] | |||
| 14 | Unattached | End of contract | 30 June 2015 | ||||
| 19 | Unattached | End of contract | 30 June 2015 | ||||
| 20 | Central Coast Mariners | Free transfer | 8 July 2015 | [11] [12] | |||
| 17 | $1,300,000 | 20 July 2015 | [13] | ||||
| 32 | Unattached | Mutual termination | 28 December 2015 | [14] | |||
| 5 | Melbourne City | Player swap | 23 January 2016 | ||||
| 18 | $400,000 | 27 January 2016 | [15] | ||||
| 18 | Unattached | End of contract | 9 February 2016 |
| No. | Position | Player | Contract length | Date | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 2 years | 11 August 2015 | [16] | |||
| 21 | 3 years | 29 September 2015 | [17] | |||
| 23 | 1.5 years | 23 February 2016 | [18] |
See main article: 2015–16 A-League.
See main article: 2015 FFA Cup.
See main article: 2016 AFC Champions League.
|-!colspan="14"|Player(s) transferred out but featured this season