2015 European Darts Trophy
The 2015 European Darts Trophy was the seventh of nine PDC European Tour events on the 2015 PDC Pro Tour. The tournament took place at the RWE-Sporthalle in Mülheim, Germany between 11–13 September 2015. It featured a field of 48 players and £115,000 in prize money, with £25,000 going to the winner.


2015 European Darts Trophy
Michael Smith won the title by defeating Michael van Gerwen 6–2 in the final.


2015 European Darts Trophy, Prize money
The prize fund was increased to £115,000 after being £100,000 for the previous two years.


2015 European Darts Trophy, Qualification and format
The top 16 players from the  on 30 June 2015 automatically qualified for the event. The remaining 32 places went to players from three qualifying events - 20 from the UK Qualifier (held in Wigan on 3 July), eight from the European Qualifier (held in Mülheim on 10 September) at the same time as the European Darts Matchplay and four from the Host Nation Qualifier (held at the venue the day before the event started).


2015 European Diving Championships
The 2015 European Diving Championships was the fourth edition of the European Diving Championships and was held from 9–14 June 2015 in Rostock, Germany. A total of eleven disciplines were contested.


2015 European Diving Championships, Results
The complete list of results and medals was published by the LEN (LIGUE EUROPÉENNE DE NATATION)


2015 European Diving Championships – Men's 10 metre platform
In the men's 10 metre platform event at the 2015 European Diving Championships, the gold medal was won by Martin Wolfram from Germany.


2015 European Diving Championships – Men's 3 metre synchro springboard
The men's 3-metre synchro springboard event at the 2015 European Diving Championships was won by the Russian team of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Zakharov. Nine teams took part in the finals.


2015 European Diving Championships – Men's synchronized 10 metre platform
In the men's synchronized 10 metre platform event at the 2015 European Diving Championships, the winning pair were Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein from Germany.


2015 European Diving Championships – Team event
Ten pairs of divers competed in the team event at the 2015 European Diving Championships. The team from Russia won the gold medal.


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's 1 metre springboard
In the 2015 European Diving Championships, the winner of the gold medal in the women's 1-metre springboard event was the Italian diver Tania Cagnotto.


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's 10 metre platform
The 2015 European Diving Championships was held from 9–14 June 2015 in Rostock, Germany. A total of eleven disciplines were contested.


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's 10 metre platform, Medalists
The complete list of results and medals was published by the LEN (LIGUE EUROPÉENNE DE NATATION)


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's 3 metre springboard
In the women's 3-metre springboard event at the 2015 European Diving Championships, there were 20 entrants in the preliminary round and 12 in the final round. The gold medal winner was Tania Cagnotto of Italy.


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's 3 metre synchro springboard
In the 2015 European Diving Championships, the women's 3 metre synchro springboard event was won by the Italian team of Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallapé.


2015 European Diving Championships – Women's synchronized 10 metre platform
In the women's synchronized 10 metre platform event at the 2015 European Diving Championships, the winning pair were the Russians Yulia Timoshinina and  Ekaterina Petukhova.


2015 European Dressage Championships
The 2015 European Dressage Championships was held between August 12 and August 16, 2015 in Aachen, Germany. It formed part of the 2015 FEI European Championships; other disciplines included were jumping, reining and vaulting. It also served as a 2016 Olympics qualifier with team quotas in dressage awarded to the best three teams not already qualified nations.


2015 European Dressage Championships
The 2015 event was the 27th edition of the European Dressage Championships. This was the first European Dressage Championships held in Germany since 2005 and the first held in Aachen since 1983.


2015 European Dressage Championships, Summary
The host country was Germany. The Netherlands and Great Britain maintained their domination of the sport. As all three nations had already qualified for the 2016 Games, the quota places went to Spain, Sweden and France. Spain won its first medal since 2005.


2015 European Dressage Championships, Aftermath
The Dutch coach of the dressage team Wim Ernes died on 1 November 2016. The gold medal winning dressage team at these championships Edward Gal, Hans Peter Minderhoud, Diederik van Silfhout and Patrick van der Meer carried his coffin during his funeral on 5 November 2016.


2015 European Eventing Championship
The 2015 European Eventing Championship was held from September 10 to September 13, 2015 at Blair Castle, Scotland, UK. The competition is also used as qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Two teams were to qualify. Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Netherlands were already qualified. The two best teams outside those - France and Sweden - qualified.


2015 European Fencing Championships
The 2015 European Fencing Championships were held in Montreux, Switzerland from 5 to 11 June 2015 at the Montreux Music & Convention Centre.


2015 European Figure Skating Championships
The 2015 European Figure Skating Championships were held 26 January – 1 February 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dancing.


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Overview
The event was the first figure skating ISU Championship to be held in Stockholm since 1947, when the city hosted the World Championships. It last hosted the European Championships in 1912. Ericsson Globe served as the competition arena and Annexet as the training rink. In June 2014, Annexet was iced over for the first time since 1989.


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Qualification
Skaters were eligible for the event if they represented a European member nation of the International Skating Union and had reached the age of 15 before 1 July 2014 in their place of birth. The corresponding competition for non-European skaters is the 2015 Four Continents Championships. National associations selected their entries according to their own criteria, but the ISU mandated that their selections must achieve a minimum technical elements score (TES) at an international event prior to the European Championships.


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Qualification, Number of entries per discipline
Based on the results of the 2014 European Championships, the ISU allowed each country one to three entries per discipline.


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Entries
Countries began announcing their entries in early December 2014 and the ISU published a complete list of competitors on 11 January 2015:


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, Medals by country
Table of small medals for placement in the short segment:


2015 European Figure Skating Championships, Medals summary, Medals by country
Table of small medals for placement in the free segment:


2015 European Games
The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games (Azerbaijani: Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of the European Olympic Committees. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 12 to 28 June 2015, and featured almost 6,000 athletes from 50 countries competing in 30 sports, including 15 summer Olympic and 2 non-Olympic sports.


2015 European Games, Host selection
Baku was awarded the right to host the first European Games at the 41st EOC General Assembly in Rome, on 8 December 2012. The European Games will take place every four years thereafter, with the next competition due to be held in 2019.


2015 European Games, Host selection
The decision was made as a result of secret balloting, where of 48 votes, 38 were in favour of the sole bidder for the event. Eight votes were against, and two more abstained from voting. The representatives of Armenia refused to take part in the voting.


2015 European Games, Organisation
The Organising Committee responsible for the inaugural European Games in Baku was established by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The committee is chaired by the First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. Baku 2015 European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) was established under the direction of the Chairperson of the Organising Committee.


2015 European Games, Organisation
The Chief Executive Officer of BEGOC is Azad Rahimov, Minister of Youth and Sport  while the Chief Operating Officer is Simon Clegg.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Venues
There were four clusters and 18 competition venues for the inaugural European Games, including 12 that were designed to become permanent venues. Five of the venues were new-builds: the National Gymnastics Arena, BMX Velopark, Baku Aquatics Centre, Baku Shooting Centre and National Stadium. There were six temporary venues: Water Polo Arena, Beach Arena, Basketball Arena, Mountain Bike Velopark, Triathlon, Cycling road race and time trial.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Venues
The Athletes Village, located in the Nizami raion of Baku, comprises 13 buildings, 16 different types of apartments with three to four bedrooms per apartment.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Ticketing
The local organising committee launched an  on its website to allow fans purchasing tickets for the inaugural event.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Ticketing
Adult tickets for sport sessions range between AZN 2 – AZN 5, according to competition round (for example preliminary or final), seat category, and venue.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Volunteers
Organisers aimed to recruit 12,500 volunteers to play roles during the Games, including assisting athletes and dignitaries, working at sport competitions, or providing assistance to spectators or the media. Baku 2015 European Games volunteers were called Flamekeepers. 6,000 Ceremonies Performers voluntarily took part in the opening and closing ceremonies.


2015 European Games, Organisation, Closing ceremony
The Closing Ceremony was held on 28 June in the National Stadium. James Hadley was the Artistic Director and Christian Steinhäuser was the Music Director of the Closing Ceremony.


2015 European Games, Games, Participating NOCs
50 national olympic committees participated in this European Games edition, including the Olympic Committee of Kosovo in its first time at a wide multi-sport event. Since the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar are not members of the European Olympic Committee, the Faroese participants occurred for the Ligue Européenne de Natation and the Gibraltar participants for the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe.


2015 European Games, Games, Participating NOCs
An exception to the ban on Armenian citizens or people of Armenian ethnicity entering Azerbaijan (because of the state of war between these countries) was made for these games; see Armenian ethnicity.


2015 European Games, Games, Sports
A total of 20 sports was represented: 16 Olympic sports, two Olympic sports contested only in non-Olympic formats (basketball and football) and two non-Olympic sports (karate and sambo). Two para-sport events were contested judo. Twelve of the sports (archery, athletics, boxing, cycling, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, wrestling) would offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. The aquatic sports are only open to junior-level competitors, and the athletics competition forms the third division of the European Team Championships.


2015 European Games, Broadcasting
International Sports Broadcasting (ISB) was the host broadcaster of the European Games. During the Games, ISB was anticipated to produce 800 hours of broadcast coverage.


2015 European Games, Controversies, Human rights situation and media bans
Amnesty International have been a vocal critic of the Baku 2015 European Games, stating in March 2015, "Azerbaijan may be a safe country for athletes taking part in the 100 metres, but defending rights and free speech is a dangerous game here. Those who champion them receive harassment and prison sentences instead of medals.". In August 2014, the human rights organisation highlighted the 24 prisoners of conscience being held in Azerbaijan prisons as an example of abuses. Western countries also criticized Aliyev's intention to close the OSCE offices in Baku.


2015 European Games, Controversies, Human rights situation and media bans
In June 2015, The Guardian reported that its own reporters, along with those of other media outlets, had been barred from entering Baku to cover the games. Human Rights Watch, in the same article, stated it had observed "the worst crackdown the country has seen in the post-Soviet era".


2015 European Games, Controversies, Human rights situation and media bans
Most European heads of state and government refused to participate at the opening ceremony, sending mid- or low-level representatives instead. Among those who did participate were Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Aleksander Lukashenko of Belarus, Boyko Borisov of Bulgaria and Victor Ponta of Romania. Ponta and Borisov faced criticism at home for their participation.


2015 European Games, Controversies, Bus accident
During the games there was a road accident where a coach driver drove into a group of young Austrian athletes by mixing up the accelerator and brake pedals, with the incident recorded by a surveillance camera. 15-year-old Austrian synchronized swimmer Vanessa Sahinovic and her teammates Lisa Breit and Luna Pajer were injured. Sahinovic was placed in an induced coma and flown to Vienna for emergency surgery. Sahinovic was left paraplegic in the accident. Because of the accident, Austria had to withdraw from the team competition.


2015 European Games, Controversies, Bus accident
In the synchronized swimming duet competition, sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini-Maria Alexandri won the silver medal, which they dedicated to the injured teammates. The police officer who released the video of the surveillance camera was relieved of his duties. Sahinovic is recovering, and is supported by an initiative of Austrian swimmers and a fundraising campaign.


2015 European Games, Marketing, Logo and mascots
The official logo for the 2015 European Games was unveiled on 16 June 2014. Designed by Adam Yunusov, it was inspired by country's ancient and contemporary culture. The logo includes flame, water, the mythical Simurgh bird, an Azerbaijani carpet and a pomegranate as one of the symbols of Azerbaijani profusion. The pomegranate, called Nar (pomegranate in Azerbaijani), is one of two mascots for the Games, along with a gazelle named Jeyran (gazelle in Azerbaijani). The couple are intended to represent the spirit of Azerbaijan and help excite the youth for the event.


2015 European Games, Marketing, Brand and visual identity
The brand incorporates traditional Azerbaijani imagery with images and colours designed to evoke a European sporting feel. The pomegranate tree, whose fruit juice is one of Azerbaijan's main exports, features heavily. The brand was created with legacy potential in mind, possibly inspired by the way the Commonwealth Games’ branding retains a similar feel each year.


2015 European Games, Marketing, Brand and visual identity
As Azerbaijan as a state sponsored Spanish football club Atlético Madrid at that time, this European Games was advertised on the club's kits during the later half of their 2014–15 season.


2015 European Games, Marketing, Sponsors
On 21 May 2014, Procter & Gamble became the first official partner of the inaugural European Games. Swiss watchmaker Tissot has been named the official timekeeper and will provide all timing and scoring services. On 13 November 2014, Motorola Solutions also teamed up with Baku 2015 as the Official Radio Communications Supporter.


2015 European Games, Torch relay
On Sunday 26 April the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, captured the official flame of the Baku 2015 European Games. The flame had visited 60 locations until the final torchbearer entered the National Stadium for the Opening Ceremony on 12 June.


2015 European Games medal table
The 2015 European Games was a multi-sport event held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The event was held for the first time and saw 5,898 athletes from 50 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competing in 253 events in 20 sports. Since the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar are not members of the European Olympic Committee, the Faroese participants occurred for the Ligue Européenne de Natation and the Gibraltar participants for the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe. This medal table ranks the participating NOCs by the number of gold medals won by their athletes.


2015 European Games medal table
Athletes from 42 NOCs won medals, leaving 8 NOCs without a medal, and 31 of them won at least one gold medal. Russia led the medal table of the first European Games. They led all the medal categories, winning the most gold medals (79, more than 30% of all gold medals awarded), the most silver medals (40), the most bronze medals (45) and the most medals overall (164, nearly 20% of all medals awarded). Kosovo participated for the first time at a multi-sport event and won one bronze medal, from judo.


2015 European Games medal table, Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee (NOC). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.


2015 European Games medal table, Medal table
A total of 844 medals (253 gold, 253 silver and 339 bronze) were awarded. The total number of bronze medals is greater than the total number of gold or silver medals because two bronze medals were awarded per event in 7 sports: badminton, boxing, fencing, judo, sambo, and wrestling.


2015 European Games medal table, Medal table
The discrepancy is also caused by a tie for the bronze medal in women's 100 metre butterfly in swimming. Thus, four medals were awarded in this event.


2015 European Games medal table, Medal table
Eight nations which failed to win any medals: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Monaco.


2015 European Games opening ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2015 European Games was the official opening ceremony held in the afternoon at 9:00PM Baku Time (GMT+4) on June 12, 2015 in the Baku Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was attended by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, the Vice President of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, and the President of the European Olympic Committee Patrick Hickey. The ceremony was attended by 68,000 spectators gathered at the Olympic Stadium, as well as hundreds of millions of online viewers. More than 300 creative teams from 28 countries were involved in organizing the ceremony. The cost of organizing of the ceremony was about 100 million U.S. dollars. The opening ceremony was directed by artistic choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou who was praised for his work during 2004 Summer Olympics.


2015 European Games opening ceremony, Ceremony
A fanfare drew attention to the Presidential Box and welcomed President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, First Lady, Chair of Baku 2015 European Games Organizing Committee Mehriban Aliyeva and President of the European Olympic Committees Patrick Hickey. The flag of Azerbaijan was carried by eight and raised by three servicemen of the National Guard of the Special State Protection Service of Azerbaijan.


2015 European Games opening ceremony, Ceremony
The torchbearer, Ilham Zakiyev, who is an Azerbaijani blind judoka, entered the stadium and was accompanied by Said Guliyev. Zakiyev and Guliyev made their way to the center of the stadium to light the Olympic cauldron. A traditional parade of nations was then held, which was opened by Greece, and ended with the representatives of the host team, Azerbaijan. After this, the First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva delivered a speech, followed by a speech by the President of the European Olympic Committees Patrick Hickey. After Hickey's remarks, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev declared the European Games open.


2015 European Games opening ceremony, Ceremony
American Singer Lady Gaga performed "Imagine", a cover from John Lennon at the event. The shapeshifting scene featured the representations of Yanar Dag and the Gobustan rock carvings, in particular. The woman on the stage (Nargiz Nasirzade) and the man (Aydemir Aydemirov) embodied the arrival of spring. Two thousand artists gathered at the scene to perform the yalli dance at the end. The opening ceremony was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Games.


2015 European Inline Speed Skating Championships
The 27th European Inline Speed Skating Championships were held in Wörgl, Austria, from 20 July to 26 July 2015. Organized by European Confederation of Roller Skating.


2015 European Judo Championships
The 2015 European Judo Championships were organised by the European Judo Union. Initially it was planned that championships will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 9 to 12 April 2015. On 21 February 2015, it was announced that competition would be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the 2015 European Games. The individual contests took place on 25–27 June 2015.


2015 European Judo Championships
The Organizing Committee announced on 4 April 2014 that visually impaired judo will be included as a medal event. This will make the European Games the first continental games to "fully integrate" a Para-sport discipline into its sports programme.


2015 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships
The 2015 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships were held in Klaipeda, Lithuania from 3 October to 10 October 2015.


2015 European Junior Badminton Championships
The 2015 European Junior Badminton Championships were held at the Regional Sport Centrum Hall in Lubin, Poland, between 26 March - 4 April 2015.


2015 European Junior Cup
The 2015 European Junior Cup was the fifth season of the European Junior Cup. It was contested over eight rounds, starting on 12 April at Motorland Aragón and ending on 4 October at Magny Cours. Starting in 2015 there was a "Women's European Cup" for female riders aged between 14 and 23 years. The upper age limit was also increased to 21 for males.


2015 European Junior Cup
With five victories, Spanish rider Javier Orellana claimed the championship title with a round to spare, ultimately finishing fifty-six points clear of his next closest competitor, Paolo Grassia of Italy. Grassia prevailed in a three-rider contest for the runner-up position at the final round at Magny-Cours; his fifth-place finish saw him take the position by three points from France's Guillaume Raymond. Both riders finished on the podium three times, but did not claim a victory. Italian duo Emanuele Pusceddu and Giuseppe De Gruttola each won on home soil at Imola and Misano, while Spain's Xavi Pinsach won on a one-off appearance at Jerez.


2015 European Junior Cup
Six wins from the eight races was enough for New Zealand's Avalon Biddle to win the Women's European Cup – again with a round to spare – by fifty-four points ahead of Anastassia Kovalenko. The only other rider to win was Hungarian rider Viktória Kis, who won back-to-back races at Assen and Imola.


2015 European Junior Curling Challenge
The 2015 European Junior Curling Challenge was held from January 3 to 9 at the Curling Hall Roztyly in Prague, Czech Republic. Nations in the Europe zone that have not already qualified for the World Junior Curling Championships participated in the curling challenge. The top finishers of each tournament advanced to the 2015 World Junior Curling Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.


2015 European Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships
The 2015 European Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships took place at the Kraków-Kolna Canoe Slalom Course in Kraków, Poland from 26 to 30 August 2015 under the auspices of the European Canoe Association (ECA). It was the 17th edition of the competition for Juniors (U18) and the 13th edition for the Under 23 category.


2015 European Juniors Wrestling Championships
The 2015 European Juniors Wrestling Championships was held in Istanbul, Turkey between June 23–28, 2015.


2015 European Karate Championships
The 2015 European Karate Championships, the 50th edition, was held at Istanbul in Turkey from 19 to 22 March, 2015. A total of 482 competitors from 47 countries participated at the event.


2015 European Le Mans Series
The 2015 European Le Mans Series season was the twelfth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The five-event season began at Silverstone Circuit, in conjunction with the FIA World Endurance Championship, on 11 April and finished at Autódromo do Estoril on 18 October.


2015 European Le Mans Series
In the lead LMP2 class, three teams did battle for the championship title; Greaves Motorsport, Thiriet by TDS Racing and Jota Sport. Jota Sport, and drivers Filipe Albuquerque, Simon Dolan and Harry Tincknell led the standings into the final race at Estoril, having won previously at the Red Bull Ring. However, it was Greaves Motorsport with the triumvirate of Gary Hirsch, Jon Lancaster and Björn Wirdheim who won the championship title; after winning at Silverstone, and Le Castellet, the trio finished second to Thiriet by TDS Racing in Estoril to secure the title by two points.


2015 European Le Mans Series
Thiriet by TDS Racing's victory in Portugal – the team's second after a previous win at Imola – also allowed them to move ahead of Jota Sport in the teams' standings, with Ludovic Badey and Pierre Thiriet finishing as runners-up in the drivers' championship standings. Badey and Thiriet's victories were shared with Tristan Gommendy at Imola and Nicolas Lapierre at Estoril.


2015 European Le Mans Series
In the new-for-2015 LMP3 class, Lawrence Tomlinson's Team LNT outfit won four of the five races during the season; three of which were won by former cyclist Chris Hoy and his teammate Charlie Robertson as they won the championship title with a round to spare. Hoy and Robertson finished 35 points clear of another Team LNT driver Gaëtan Paletou, who won the final race of the season with Michael Simpson at Estoril. Third place in the championship went to SVK by Speed Factory, and their drivers Konstantīns Calko and Dainius Matijošaitis. LNT's only defeat during the season occurred at Imola, when Morten Dons and Rob Garofall won for the University of Bolton team.


2015 European Le Mans Series
Successive victories at the Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet allowed the Formula Racing team with drivers Johnny Laursen, Mikkel Mac and Andrea Rizzoli to clinch their respective LMGTE championship titles. They won the championship by four points from the BMW Sports Trophy Marc VDS outfit of Henry Hassid, Jesse Krohn and Andy Priaulx, who were the race winners at Estoril. Third place in the championship went to the AF Corse team of Duncan Cameron, Matt Griffin and Aaron Scott.


2015 European Le Mans Series
Two other teams won races during the season; Gulf Racing UK won on home soil at Silverstone with an all-British crew of Adam Carroll, Phil Keen and Michael Wainwright, while AT Racing won at Imola with the father-and-son crew of Alexander Talkanitsa Jr. and Alexander Talkanitsa Sr. along with Alessandro Pier Guidi.


2015 European Le Mans Series
While in GTC, TDS Racing finished 20 points clear of their closest rivals to take the respective titles in the class. The all-French crew of Eric Dermont, Dino Lunardi and Franck Perera won two races at Silverstone and at Le Castellet, and sealed the title with second at Estoril. Second place in the championship went to another crew that won two races during the season; Francesco Castellacci and Stuart Hall won successive races at Imola and the Red Bull Ring for AF Corse, sharing victories with Rino Mastronardi (Imola) and Thomas Flohr (Red Bull Ring). Another AF Corse crew finished in third in the drivers' championship, as Francisco Guedes and Mads Rasmussen were able to fend off Marco Cioci, Ilya Melnikov and Giorgio Roda for the position despite the latter trio winning the final race at Estoril.


2015 European Le Mans Series, Regulations
The 2015 season saw the introduction of the new LMP3 class, which was announced by the ACO during the 2014 season. The aim of the new class was to introduce young drivers and teams to endurance racing before they progressed to the higher classes of prototype racing, LMP2 and ultimately LMP1.


2015 European Le Mans Series, Regulations
The chassis, which could be built by any constructor, was powered by a 5-litre normally-aspirated V8 Nissan VK50 engine, producing 420hp. Gearboxes were provided by Xtrac. The approximate running costs for a car over the course of the season was estimated to be between 350,000 and 400,000 euros.


2015 European Le Mans Series, Calendar
The provisional 2015 calendar was announced at the final round of the 2014 season in Estoril. The calendar once again comprised five events, featuring the same five circuits that hosted events in 2014. For the third consecutive season, Silverstone hosted the opening rounds of both the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship.


2015 European Masters Games
The 2015 European Masters Games was the third edition of the multi-sport event for masters sport, which took place between 1–11 October 2015 in Nice, France. 7200 participants from 76 countries competed in 27 sports.


2015 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships
The 2015 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships were held at the Sportoase in Leuven, Belgium, between 11 and 15 February and were organised by Badminton Europe and Badminton Vlaanderen. It was the 23rd edition of the tournament. Germany was the defending champion. The draw was made on 18 December 2014.


2015 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships, Participating Countries
33 national teams entered the competition of which 12 are participating in the final event. Five countries qualified for the final directly, the remaining nations qualified by winning their qualification group.


2015 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships, Participating Countries
* — at the time of the entry deadline, not taken into consideration ranking of Belgium and Germany.


2015 European Mixed Team Badminton Championships, Participating Countries
One day before the start of the event, Spain withdrew their team from the competition.


2015 European Modern Pentathlon Championships
The 2015 European Modern Pentathlon Championships was held in Bath, Great Britain from 17 to 23 August 2015.


2015 European Modern Pentathlon Championships
The event was a direct qualification event for the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the eight highest finishers in the men's and women's individual events gaining quota places for their National Olympic Committee at the 2016 Games.


2015 European Pairs Speedway Championship
The 2015 European Pairs Speedway Championship was the 12th edition of the European Pairs Speedway Championship. The final was held in Debrecen, Hungary on 26 September.


2015 European Pairs Speedway Championship
The title was won by Poland for the fifth time.


2015 European Race Walking Cup
The 2015 European Race Walking Cup took place on May 17, 2015. The races were held on a 1 km lap on Gran Vía Escultor Salzillo in Murcia, Spain. Detailed reports of the event were given for the IAAF and for the EAA.


2015 European Race Walking Cup
Later, Russian athletes Mikhail Ryzhov (winner of 50 km) and Ivan Noskov (runner-up of 50 km event) were disqualified for doping, and the medals were redistubuted.


2015 European Race Walking Cup, Participation
According to an unofficial count, 207 athletes from 27 countries participated.


2015 European Racquetball Championships
The XVIII Racquetball European Championships were held in Hamburg, (Germany) from June 24–27, 2015, with only 3 countries represented. The EURO 2015 were under the patronage of the city of Hamburg.


2015 European Racquetball Championships
The venue was the Sport Department, in Hamburg, with 3 regulation racquetball courts. In addition to the European Championships, the European Racquetball Masters and Junior Racquetball Championships were held at the same time.


2015 European Racquetball Championships
The opening ceremony was on June 24 with the president of European Racquetball Federation, Mike Mesecke, and the president of German Racquetball Federation, Jörg Ludwig.


2015 European Rally Championship
The 2015 European Rally Championship season was the 63rd season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the third following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.


2015 European Rally Championship
For this year the drivers have to register for the championship, and the categories have been renamed into ERC 1 (for S2000, R5 and RRC (last year) cars), ERC 2 (category for R4 production cars, previously titled N4) and ERC 3 (for R1, R2 and R3 cars).


2015 European Rally Championship, Calendar
The calendar for the 2015 season featured ten rallies, one less than the 2014 calendar.


2015 European Road Championships
The 2015 European Road Championships were held in Tartu, Estonia. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men and women under-23 and juniors. The championships were regulated by the European Cycling Union.


2015 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 road race
The Women's under-23 road race at the 2015 European Road Championships took place on 8 August. The Championships were hosted by the Estonian city Tartu. The course was 124 km long. 76 cyclists competed in the time trial, of which 18 did not finish.


2015 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 time trial
The Women's under-23 time trial at the 2015 European Road Championships took place on 6 August. The Championships were hosted by the Estonian city Tartu. The course was 18.4 km long. 28 cyclists competed in the time trial. The course had a total elevation of 53m, with a maximal inclination of 5.1% and a maximal slope downhill of 4.9%.


2015 European Road Championships – Women's under-23 time trial
The race was won by Mieke Kröger, who also won the time trial in 2014 in a time of 24' 57" with an average speed of 44.25 km/hour.


2015 European Rowing Championships
The 2015 European Rowing Championships were held in Poznań, Poland, between 29 and 31 May 2015.


2015 European Rowing Championships, Medal summary, Men
Three members of the Russian M4x crew were under investigation for anti-doping violations in 2014.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
The 2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match in the first European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twentieth European club rugby final in general, as the competition replaces the Heineken Cup.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
The final was played between the French clubs Clermont and Toulon at Twickenham Stadium on 2 May 2015.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final
Toulon won the final, beating Clermont by 24 points to 18. This was the third successive win by Toulon of the top European club rugby competition.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Background
In the Heineken Cup (1995–2014), Toulon won twice, the two last editions of the tournament (2013 and 2014). The first of those finals was also Clermont's only final, and Toulon won 16–15 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. In 2014, Toulon won 23–6 against England's Saracens at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Venue and ticketing
Following a competitive tendering process, the tournament organisers, European Professional Club Rugby, announced in August 2014 that the final would be held in the 82,000 capacity Twickenham Stadium, London on May 2, 2015. The scheduling makes it the earliest in the season that the European final has been held since the 1999 Heineken Cup Final, and is two weeks after the semi-finals are held, providing limited opportunity for supporters of the two finalists to make arrangements to attend. Around 8000 supporters of the two clubs involved in the final travelled to Twickenham, with part of their allocations being returned.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Venue and ticketing
Efforts were made to try and boost attendance by offering free tickets to the final to those that purchased tickets to the Aviva Premiership final that was to be held in the same venue later in the month. However, a technical issue meant that the requirement to purchase the Premiership final tickets was not initially enforced, meaning customers could order only the free ticket and pay just a booking fee.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Route to Final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Route to Final, Clermont
In the pool stages, third-seeds Clermont topped Pool 1, winning five of six games. Their only defeat was their first game, losing 30–23 away to Saracens at Allianz Park on 18 October 2014. After that, they defeated Munster and Sale Sharks home and away, and concluded on 15 January 2015 with an 18–6 victory over Saracens at the Stade Marcel Michelin.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Route to Final, Clermont
On 4 April in the quarter-finals, Clermont hosted English champions Northampton Saints and won 37–5. Fourteen days later in the semi-finals they hosted Saracens, who had defeated them in the previous season's Heineken Cup semi-finals, and won 13–9. Wesley Fofana scored the only try of the match for Clermont, converted by Brock James, who also scored both of their penalties.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Route to Final, Toulon
Seeded second, Toulon won Pool 3 with five victories and one defeat. Their one loss came away to Leicester Tigers on 7 December, 25–21. In the quarter-finals, they triumphed 32–18 over Wasps at the Stade Mayol on 5 April, with tries by Mathieu Bastareaud and Ali Williams. Both were converted by Frédéric Michalak, who also scored all six of their penalties. Two weeks later they won their semi-final 25–20 after extra time against Leinster at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. The game finished 12–12 after 80 minutes, and in extra time both teams scored tries: Bryan Habana's for Toulon was converted by Leigh Halfpenny, but Séan O'Brien scored a late try for Leinster.


2015 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, Match, Details
Touch judges: George Clancy (Ireland) Wayne Barnes (England)Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)


2015 European Senior Tour
The 2015 European Senior Tour was the 24th season of the European Senior Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged 50 and above operated by the PGA European Tour.


2015 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the European Senior Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for players who are members of the tour.


2015 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
For the tour schedule on the European Senior Tour's website, including links to full results, click .


2015 European Senior Tour, Leading money winners
There is a complete list on the official site .


2015 European Shooting Championships
The 2015 European Shooting Championships was held in Maribor, Slovenia from July 19 to 31, 2015.


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships took place in Netanya, Israel, from 2–6 December 2015. They were originally scheduled to be held in January 2015, but the LEN moved the event to December. The venue of the event was the brand new swimming complex of the Wingate Institute. This complex features an Olympic-size pool with 10 lanes and 3 meter depth, backed by the latest built-in filtration systems, an 8-lane 50 m pool and a 6-lane 25 m pool.


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The swimmer of the meet honors went to Katinka Hosszú of Hungary and Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy. Hosszú won six gold medals and one silver, breaking two world records and six championship records, while Paltrinieri won one gold medal in a world record time.


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Results, Men's events
Legend: WR - World record; ER - European record; CR - Championship record


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Results, Women's events
Legend: WR - World record; ER - European record; CR - Championship record


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Results, Mixed events
Legend: WR - World record; ER - European record; CR - Championship record


2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Participating nations
500 swimmers from 48 nations participated at the competition. The only LEN members did not participate are Gibraltar, Monaco, Montenegro and San Marino.


2015 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The 2015 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place between 23 and 25 January 2015 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.


2015 European Speed Skating Championships
The 2015 European Speed Skating Championships were held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, from 10 to 11 January 2015.


2015 European Speed Skating Championships
Sven Kramer won his seventh and Ireen Wüst her fourth championship.


2015 European Superstock 600 Championship
The 2015 European Superstock 600 Championship was the eleventh season of the European Superstock 600 Championship, a support class to the Superbike World Championship at its European rounds. The championship used 600 cc production motorcycles and was reserved for riders between 15 and 24 years of age. The 2015 season was contested over eight races at seven meetings, beginning at Motorland Aragón on 11 April and ending at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on 3 October.


2015 European Superstock 600 Championship
With five victories and a third place in the first six races, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu of Turkey secured the championship title with two races to spare. He led the season's only other winners, Italy's Michael Ruben Rinaldi, by 59 points, Federico Caricasulo – also from Italy – a further 12 points behind in third, and Augusto Fernández from Spain, a further 6 points behind in fourth.


2015 European Table Tennis Championships
The 2015 European Table Tennis Championships were held in Yekaterinburg, Russia from 25 September to 4 October 2015. Venue for the competition is Yekaterinburg-Expo.


2015 European Tour
The 2015 European Tour is the seventh edition of the Race to Dubai and the 44th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.


2015 European Tour
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy defended the Race to Dubai, winning the title for the third time. He was also named Golfer of the Year. South Korea's An Byeong-hun was the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.


2015 European Tour, Schedule
The table below shows the 2015 European Tour schedule which began with two events in late 2014.


2015 European Tour, Schedule
There were many changes from the previous season. There were six additions to the schedule, made up of four new tournaments: the True Thailand Classic, the Shenzhen International, the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Matchplay, and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open; the Hero Indian Open, which was co-sanctioned by the European Tour for the first time; and the return of the European Open, which was last played in 2009.


2015 European Tour, Schedule
Seven events were lost from the schedule: the Volvo World Match Play Championship and Volvo Golf Champions, as a result of Volvo reducing their sponsorship commitments; the Nelson Mandela Championship; the NH Collection Open; The Championship at Laguna National; the Wales Open, as a 15-year deal with Celtic Manor Resort came to an end; and the Perth International, which wasn't played in 2015 due to rescheduling from October to February.


2015 European Tour, Schedule
In March, the tour confirmed that the British Masters, last held in 2008, was also being revived and added to the schedule. Later in the month, the Madeira Islands Open was cancelled due to persistent heavy rain; it was later rescheduled to the end of July, opposite the Paul Lawrie Matchplay.


2015 European Tour, Race to Dubai
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai", and is based on money earned during the season. In a change for the 2015 season, the system was slightly modified to a full points system, with one euro equal to one point for all events leading up to the Final Series, where additional points were awarded (previously earnings were converted into points at the start of the Final Series); earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies were converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event.


2015 European Tour, Race to Dubai
The following table shows the final top-10 in the 2015 standings.


2015 European Tour, Awards, Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month award:


2015 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
This is a list of the 27 players who earned 2016 European Tour cards through Q School in 2015.


2015 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2016 Results
* European Tour rookie in 2016T = Tied  The player retained his European Tour card for 2017 (finished inside the top 111). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2017, but retained conditional status (finished between 112 and 148, inclusive). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2017 (finished outside the top 148).


2015 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2016 Results
McEvoy, Manley, Canter, and Molinari regained their cards for 2017 through Q School.


2015 European Touring Car Cup
The 2015 FIA European Touring Car Cup is the eleventh running of the FIA European Touring Car Cup. It will consist of six events in Hungary, Slovakia, France, Czech Republic, Belgium and Italy. The championship will be split into three categories: Super 2000 for TC2 Turbo and TC2 machinery, Super 1600, and the Single-Make Trophy for cars such as the SEAT León Supercopa.


2015 European Touring Car Cup
Nikolay Karamyshev, Petr Fulín, Gilles Bruckner and Dmitry Bragin will be the defending champions in TC2 Turbo, TC2, Super 1600 and Single-makes Trophy respectively. From these four only Bruckner will be able to defend his title as Fulín moved to the Single-makes Trophy, while Karamyshev and Bragin left the series.


2015 European Touring Car Cup, Championship standings
† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.


2015 European Triathlon Championships
The 2015 European Triathlon Championships was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 9 July to 12 July 2015.


2015 European Truck Racing Championship
The 2015 FIA European Truck Racing Championship was a motor-racing championship using highly tuned tractor units. It was the 31st year of the championship and Norbert Kiss won the title for the second year in a row with MAN.


2015 European Truck Racing Championship, Teams and drivers
Race drivers without fixed number, whose number is defined race by race:


2015 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship Overall Standings, Drivers' Championship
Each round or racing event consisted of four races. At each race, the points awarded according to the ranking was on a 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers.


2015 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship Overall Standings, Drivers' Championship
† – Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 75% of the race distance.


2015 European U23 Wrestling Championship
The 2015 European U23 Wrestling Championships was the first edition of European U23 Wrestling Championships of combined events, and took place from March 24 to 29 in Walbrzych, Poland.


2015 European Under-19 Rugby Union Championship
The 2015 European Under-19 Rugby Union Championship (Rugby Europe Championship) is the ninth edition of the European Under-19 Rugby Union Championship for Under 19 national teams. It was held in Lisbon, Portugal from October 25 to November 1.


2015 European Under-19 Rugby Union Championship
The tournament serves as Europe's qualifier for the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy.


2015 European Weightlifting Championships
The 2015 European Weightlifting Championships were held in Tbilisi, Georgia from 10 April to 18 April 2015.


2015 European Weightlifting Championships, Medals tables
Ranking by all medals: "Big" (Total result) and "Small" (Snatch and Clean&Jerk)


2015 European Weightlifting Championships, Participating countries
List of participating countries. In total 38 countries participate in this championships.


2015 European Wheelchair Handball Nations' Tournament
The 2015 EHF European Wheelchair Handball Nations’ Tournament was the first edition and was hosted for the first time in Austria from 12 to 13 December 2015.


2015 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship
The 2015 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship is the 12th edition, which took place in North Macedonia. Sweden was the defending champion but Denmark won.


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
The 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held in Vorarlberg, Austria and Liechtenstein between 25 and 30 January 2015. It was the first time that two countries become hosts in a European Youth Olympic Festival.


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Mascot
Alpy the marmot is the mascot for 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Venues
The venues are divided between places in the Vorarlberg region of Austria and in Liechtenstein. Venues in Austria:


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Schedule
The competition schedule for the 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is as follows:


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony for 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival took place on 25 January in Montafon Nordic Sportszentrum in Tschagguns, Austria. Featuring about 150 amateur performers, the show focused about the close relation between the two co-hosts. The ceremony started with the parade of athletes from 45 countries, with the team from Austria and Liechtenstein marched together at the end of the parade. Carmen Wyler (Liechtenstein) and Thomas Pegram (Austria) then sang the national anthems of the hosts.


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Opening Ceremony
After the speeches from ÖOC Secretary General Peter Mennel and EOC President Patrick Hickey, the Games were officially opened together by Heinz Fischer, President of Austria and Alois, Hereditary Prince of Liechtenstein. Then, Xaver Kuster, an Austrian snowboarder took the athletes' oath, followed by Marion Vettori for the judges' oath and Ralf Jegler (alpine skiing coach of Liechtenstein) for the coaches' oath.


2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Medal table
Russia topped the medal standings with 6 golds, 6 silvers, and four bronzes. Meanwhile, Germany had the highest medal count with 20.


2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival
The 2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was  held in Tbilisi, Georgia, between 26 July and 1 August 2015.


2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, Schedule
The competition schedule for the 2017 European Youth Olympic Summer Festival is as follows:


2015 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, Mascot
The mascot for this edition of European Youth Olympic Festival is named P.E.A.K.Y, which is based on a pheasant. Pheasant was chosen as the mascot due to the connection with a Georgian legend about the founding of Tbilisi. The name P.E.A.K.Y is a combination from the words "peak" and "youth".


2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards
The 61st Evening Standard Theatre Awards were awarded on Sunday 22 November 2015 at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Nominations were announced on 2 November 2015. The ceremony was presented by Rob Brydon and co-hosted by Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen.


2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Non-competitive awards
The Lebedev award went to American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.


2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Non-competitive awards
The Editor’s award, awarded in partnership with The Ivy, went to Vanessa Redgrave.


2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Non-competitive awards
The V&A’s exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty won the Beyond Theatre award.


2015 Evergreen Premier League
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Frietjes (talk | contribs) at 18:11, 19 November 2019 (→Notes). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2015 Evergreen Premier League
The 2015 Evergreen Premier League (referred to as the EPLWA) was the second season of the Evergreen Premier League. The season began on 25 April 2015.


2015 Evergreen Premier League
Eight clubs participated. WestSound FC folded and Olympic Force joined the league in 2015.


2015 Evian Championship
The 2015 Evian Championship was played 10–13 September at the Evian Resort Golf Club in Évian-les-Bains, France. It was the 22nd Evian Championship (the first 19 played as the Evian Masters), and the third as a major championship on the LPGA Tour. The event was televised by Golf Channel and NBC Sports in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. Lydia Ko won her first major championship, becoming the youngest major winner, at age 18, and shooting the lowest final round, 63, to win a major.


2015 Evian Championship, Field
The field for the tournament is set at 120, and most earn exemptions based on past performance on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA Tour, or with a high ranking in the Women's World Golf Rankings.


2015 Evian Championship, Field
There are 12 exemption categories for the 2015 Evian Championship.


2015 Evian Championship, Field
1. The top 40 in the Women's World Golf Rankings, as of 4 August 2015


2015 Evian Championship, Field
3. Winners of the 2015 majors (2015 ANA Inspiration, 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, 2015 U.S. Women's Open, 2015 Women's British Open)


2015 Evian Championship, Field
6. The top 5 on the LET Order of Merit, as of commitment date


2015 Evian Championship, Field
7. Top 10 and ties from the 2014 Evian Championship


2015 Evian Championship, Round summaries, Final round
Lydia Ko birdied five holes on the back-nine and shot a round of 63 for a six-shot win over Lexi Thompson and her first career major championship. With the win Ko became the youngest winner of a LPGA major, and the youngest major champion in golf since Young Tom Morris won the 1868 Open Championship. Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors.


2015 Exeter City Council election
The 2015 Exeter City Council election took place on 7 May 2015, to elect members of Exeter City Council in Exeter, Devon, England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2015 Exeter Sevens
The 2015 Exeter Sevens was the final tournament of the 2015 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series. It was held over the weekend of 11–12 July 2015.


2015 Extremaduran regional election
The 2015 Extremaduran regional election was held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 9th Assembly of the autonomous community of Extremadura. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Assembly of Extremadura was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Extremadura, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Extremaduran Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Extremadurans abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado). The 65 members of the Assembly of Extremadura were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 2 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Election date
The term of the Assembly of Extremadura expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 22 May 2011, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 22 May 2015. The election decree was required to be published in the DOE no later than 28 April 2015, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Assembly on Sunday, 21 June 2015.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Election date
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.


2015 Extremaduran regional election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series
The 2015 Extreme Sailing Series was the ninth edition of the sailing series and the fifth year of it being a fully global event. The series started in Singapore on 5 February 2015 and ended in Sydney, Australia on 13 December 2015 and took place in 8 cities across 3 continents.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 1: Singapore
For the second time, the first act of the series was held in Singapore between 5–8 February 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 2: Muscat, Oman
The second act of the series was held in Muscat, Oman on the weekend of 11–14 March 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 3: Qingdao, China
Qingdao, China was the host of the third act of the 2015 series, on the weekend of 30 April–3 May 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 4: Cardiff, UK
The fourth act of 2015 was in Cardiff, Wales for the fourth time, but rather than the August Bank Holiday, it was held on the weekend of 18–21 June 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 5: Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg, Germany was a new venue for the series, and was held on 23–26 July 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 6: Saint Petersburg, Russia
The sixth act was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, a new venue in the Extreme Sailing Series. It was held on the weekend of 20–23 August 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 7: Istanbul, Turkey
The seventh act took place in Istanbul, Turkey on the weekend of 1–4 October 2015.


2015 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 8: Sydney, Australia
Act 8 was held on the weekend of 10–13 December 2015 in Sydney, Australia. This was the second year that Sydney hosted the series.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship
The 2015 UIM F1 H2O World Championship was the 32nd season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. The season consisted of six races, beginning in Doha, Qatar, on 14 March 2015, and ending in Sharjah, UAE, on 18 December 2015.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship
Philippe Chiappe, driving for the CTIC China Team, entered the season as defending world champion having won his first title, and the first for a Frenchman, the previous year. Chiappe successfully defended his title, securing enough points at the penultimate round in Abu Dhabi and thus became the series' fourth back-to-back championship winner. In addition, the championship witnessed its first ever female race winner, when Marit Strømøy won the final round at Sharjah, with the occasion attracting international media coverage.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
The 2015 season would see the biggest team and driver changes for some time, as sporting and political decisions upset the balance of recent years. By far the most significant development was the Qatar Team's withdrawal from the sport following a merger between the Qatar Sailing Federation and Qatar Marine Sports Federation (QMSF); the latter of the two bodies having previously run the Qatar F1H2O operation. The team ran a single boat at the opening race on home waters in Doha for Shaun Torrente, with former teammate and triple world champion Alex Carella having already left for bitter rivals Team Abu Dhabi.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Carella had been tempted to switch teams after manoeuvres behind the scenes at Team Abu Dhabi resulted in Guido Cappellini replacing Scott Gillman as the team's technical director. But whilst Torrente won the opening race of the year for the Qatar Team, by June the squad had been shut down, and Torrente instead joined forces with the widely respected offshore outfit Victory Team, who now turned their attention to the inshore scene. At the third race of the year in Porto, Torrente was joined by reigning Class 1 and X-Cat champion Nadir Bin Hendi, making his debut in the series.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Initially, both Victory pilots used customer BaBa hulls, but the team were unsatisfied with their performance and looked to source a supply of Moore boats which were being campaigned successfully by the CTIC China team. Moore refused to supply Victory however, preferring to keep exclusivity with their fellow French-based China team. Denied, Victory went and built their own hulls which were ready by the Abu Dhabi GP, where the new self-titled Victory hulls made their debut. It was noted however that the new boats bore somewhat of a resemblance to their Moore counterparts.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
At Team Abu Dhabi Carella was initially partnered with Thani Al Qamzi, but on 13 March, the day before the season-opening Qatar GP, Al Qamzi and new team principal Cappellini had a bitter argument over which boat the driver should use. The outcome resulted in Al Qamzi being sacked from the team, and at the eleventh hour was replaced by Italian rookie David Del Pin. After the second round in France however, Del Pin was demoted to reserve driver and Al Qamzi returned to Team Abu Dhabi in time for the third race in Portugal.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Having been replaced by Carella, Ahmed Al Hameli was left on the sidelines but joined up with ousted principal Scott Gillman. Having been sacked, Gillman took his organisation Gillman Racing and renamed it Emirates Team. This forced Cappellini and the rest of the Team Abu Dhabi management to lodge an entirely new entry as Abu Dhabi had been effectively title-sponsoring Gillman Racing previously. Returning to how he began his team in the 1990s prior to Abu Dhabi involvement, Gillman described his new venture as aiming to "nurture Emirati talent".


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
For the first race of the year, with no F1 hull readily available at such short notice, Gillman and Al Hameli had to source an F2 boat – Ivan Brigada's BaBa from the previous year – replacing the smaller capacity F2 engine for an F1-standard one. By the second round of the year, the team had new BaBa hulls ready to race, and alongside Al Hameli, Erik Stark was signed from Team Nautica.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Considered one of the sport's brightest prospects, Stark had finished sixth in the 2014 championship, and backed the performance up with a third-place finish in the first race of 2015. Stark was replaced at Team Nautica by Frenchman Christophe Larigot, making his debut in F1, and prior to the French GP, Nautica announced they would be changing their team name to Team EMIC, at the same time switching from racing under the American flag, to the Emirati one.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Brigada's former employers Caudwell Racing did not return for 2015, having folded last year without completing the season. This left Brigada and Slovakia's Tomáš Čermák without drives and ensured that the field returned to being entirely powered by 2.5 litre two stroke Mercury engines.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Teams and drivers, Team and driver changes
Reigning champions CTIC China Team retained their line-up of Philippe Chiappe and Xiong Ziwei, and F1 GC Atlantic Team, Mad Croc BaBa Racing and Team Sweden, also all named unchanged line-ups from 2014. Francesco Cantando's Motorglass F1 Team saw a change as Austrian Bernd Enzenhofer joined, whilst Bartek Marszalek skipped the first race in Qatar and rejoined the team from the French GP. France also saw the entry of another new team alongside Victory, with French team Maverick Racing running Cédric Deguisne, who returned to the sport after a ten-year absence. Maverick competed in just the French and Portuguese rounds and did not travel with the rest of the teams for the remaining races outside of Europe.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Season calendar
A provisional calendar of eight races was released by the UIM on 24 January 2015, the largest since 2010 and featuring two races in Europe for the first time since the 2011 season when Portimao and Kiev appeared. Portugal returned after a four-year absence, whilst France appeared on the calendar for the first time since 2007, an eight-year gap. The French race featured as a consequence of Chiappe's title success in 2014.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Season calendar
Qatar returned to a single slot having filled in for the cancelled Ukraine round in 2014 with an additional race, whilst the traditional end-of-year double header in the UAE continued at Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. An additional race in China at Shanghai was initially planned alongside regular venue Liuzhou, however this race was later cancelled in August. Another race that was planned and subsequently cancelled was a visit to Thailand, in what would have seen the series return to the country for the first time since 1994. With the two cancellations, the calendar reverted to six races over the course of the year.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.


2015 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings, Teams standings
Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.


2015 F2000 Championship Series
The 2015 F2000 Championship Series season is the tenth season of competition for the series.


2015 F2000 Championship Series
21 year-old American Sam Beasley won all but two races of the fourteen round championship, dominating his way to the title. Second place Eric Filgueras was held winless and finished well back in the Championship. Canadian Steve Bamford won the Masters Championship for drivers over 40 years old and finished third overall in points with one win.


2015 F4 Japanese Championship
The 2015 F4 Japanese Championship was the inaugural season of the F4 Japanese Championship. It began on 4 April in Okayama and finished on 15 November on Twin Ring Motegi after seven double header rounds.


2015 F4 Japanese Championship, Race calendar and results
The calendar was published on 19 January 2015. All rounds were held in Japan and were part of the Super GT events.


2015 F4 Japanese Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' Championships, Overall
Bold – PoleItalics – Fastest Lap† — Did not finish, but classified


2015 FA Community Shield
The 2015 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 93rd FA Community Shield, an annual English football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup. The match was contested by Arsenal, the 2014–15 FA Cup winners, and Chelsea, champions of the 2014–15 Premier League. It was held at Wembley Stadium on 2 August 2015. Watched by a crowd of 85,437 and a television audience of over a million, Arsenal won the match 1–0.


2015 FA Community Shield
This was Arsenal's 21st Shield appearance and Chelsea's 11th. Petr Čech made his competitive debut for Arsenal against his former team, while captain Mikel Arteta and striker Olivier Giroud were named as substitutes. Gary Cahill was passed fit to start for Chelsea alongside captain John Terry, and Loïc Rémy started up-front as Diego Costa was absent.


2015 FA Community Shield
The only goal of the match came near the midway point of the first half; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain collected a pass from Theo Walcott from the right and scored past Thibaut Courtois. Both managers did not shake hands after the game, which drew media attention. Arsenal's victory was their first against Chelsea in over three years and manager Arsène Wenger's first over José Mourinho in 14 attempts.


2015 FA Community Shield, Background and pre-match
The FA Community Shield was founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, and began as a contest between the respective champions of the Football League and Southern League, although in 1913 it was played between an Amateurs XI and a Professionals XI. In 1921, it was played by the league champions of the top division and FA Cup winners for the first time.


2015 FA Community Shield, Background and pre-match
Chelsea qualified for the 2015 FA Community Shield as winners of the 2014–15 Premier League. It was the club's fourth league title in ten years and third under the management of José Mourinho. The other Community Shield place went to Arsenal, who defeated Aston Villa by four goals to win the 2015 FA Cup Final and retain the trophy. In doing so, Arsenal had overtaken Manchester United to become the most successful club in the competition's history, with 12 titles.


2015 FA Community Shield, Background and pre-match
Chelsea made their eleventh appearance in the Community Shield; prior to this they won four (1970, 2000, 2005, 2009) and lost six, most recently in 2012 against Manchester City. By contrast, Arsenal made their 21st Community Shield appearance, and won 13, including one shared in 1991. They went into the match as holders of the Shield, having defeated Manchester City a year earlier. Both clubs had only once met before in the Shield, when Chelsea won by two goals to one in 2005.


2015 FA Community Shield, Background and pre-match
Arsenal had failed to beat Chelsea in all competitions since 2011, and  Mourinho was undefeated against his opponent Arsène Wenger in 13 matches. Mourinho told reporters a winless run was something he would not tolerate: “I would try to answer, not because of a mental block but because I would want to try to find solutions to help my team to do it – try to find a different way, try to find the reasons why it goes all the time against my team." He also attempted to play down the significance of the match, given Arsenal had won the previous year's contest but finished third in the league.


2015 FA Community Shield, Background and pre-match
The match was televised live in the United Kingdom on BT Sport 2; the network obtained rights to the Community Shield in July 2013 and were into their second year of a deal with the BBC and the FA. The game was also the inaugural broadcast of BT Sport's 4K ultra HD feed.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Team selection
Chelsea were predicted to line up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Willian and Eden Hazard as wide men. Mourinho doubted the fitness of Diego Costa and Gary Cahill going into the match – the former aggravated his hamstring during a pre-season game against Barcelona. Arsenal were expected to line up similarly to Chelsea, with Walcott furthest forward and Mesut Özil in his preferred position as playmaker. Midfielder Jack Wilshere was ruled out of selection, having sustained an ankle injury during training.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Team selection
Arsenal's top scorer of the previous season, Alexis Sánchez, was rested, having won the 2015 Copa América with Chile earlier in the summer. The teamsheets showed Loïc Rémy starting the match for Chelsea up front and Cesc Fàbregas partnering Matic in midfield. As expected Petr Čech started in goal for Arsenal; the goalkeeper moved from Chelsea in search of first-team football.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, First half
Chelsea, in their usual home strip of blue, kicked off the match and immediately lost possession when Walcott dispossessed Matic. Walcott sent the ball to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose cross on the right forced a punch from Thibaut Courtois. Francis Coquelin conceded a free kick in the sixth minute having fouled Willian inside Chelsea's half, though nothing came of the set piece. Fàbregas went down under the challenge of Per Mertesacker in Arsenal's penalty area soon afterwards, but his appeal for a penalty kick was turned down by referee Anthony Taylor and play resumed.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, First half
Chelsea, having settled the slower of the two teams, began to dominate ball possession and won two early corners, both of which were easily dealt with. In the 17th minute, Nacho Monreal's charge forward was stopped by Cahill; the Chelsea defender in the process of making that challenge had suffered a nose bleed. A free kick for Arsenal presented a chance for Walcott to score, but his header goalwards was saved.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, First half
Arsenal scored the game's only goal in the 24th minute; set-up by Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to cut inside César Azpilicueta on the right and shoot the ball into the top-left corner of Courtois's net. It was the first goal Chelsea had conceded against Arsenal in 506 minutes. Most of the action in the first half was conducted in a congested midfield, with Fàbregas attempting to sedate the rhythm and the Arsenal midfielders forcing their opponents to play narrow. This favoured Arsenal, who had space to counter-attack had Chelsea lost the ball.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, First half
Ramires nearly levelled the scoreline in the 33rd minute, but his curling effort failed to creep into the bottom right-hand corner. Ramires then missed another chance, heading the ball high and over the Arsenal goal after good work by Rémy. Arsenal created another chance to score four minutes before the break, when Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross found Monreal, who under pressure from Ivanovic headed over. Rémy, often a lone figure upfront, was ruled offside late on.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
Radamel Falcao replaced Rémy after the break and his long-range shot in the 48th minute was blocked. Although Chelsea started the half well, it was Arsenal who fashioned the notable chances before the hour mark. In the 50th minute Santi Cazorla attempted to thread the ball through Chelsea's defence for Walcott to reach but his pass was cleared. Two minutes later Coquelin over-hit his pass which was directed to Özil, who roamed freely. Chelsea made another change, this time Oscar in place of Ramires in the 53rd minute.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
Seven minutes later Chelsea came close to scoring when Eden Hazard managed to evade his markers, but through on goal failed to get his shot on target, hitting over. Azpilicueta was shown the game's first yellow card for pulling Oxlade-Chamberlain back; Mourinho made the decision to substitute him with Kurt Zouma in the 69th minute. Giroud came on for Walcott moments before, and immediately was involved in the action, shooting high and then from long range.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
Coquelin then was booked for his foul on Oscar, which earned Chelsea a free kick. Oscar's attempt was saved by Čech, who fisted the ball round the post. Chelsea continued to attack, though Arsenal withstood their pressure. John Terry rose highest from a corner in the 74th minute and headed the ball in Zouma's direction, which eventually was caught by Čech. Hazard's shot was blocked in the 79th minute and Oscar then spurned a chance, with Falcao unable to create something from it.


2015 FA Community Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
In an effort to find an equaliser with ten minutes of normal time remaining, Mourinho brought on Moses in place of Terry and deployed a three-man defence. It nearly presented Arsenal the chance to score their second of the match, but for Cazorla to have his effort blocked and Aaron Ramsey on the rebound shooting wide.


2015 FA Community Shield, Post-match
Wenger and Mourinho did not shake hands after the final whistle; Mourinho congratulated Arsenal's players as they descended the Wembley steps upon lifting the Shield, but the Arsenal manager appeared to avoid his Chelsea counterpart after he had collected his winner's medal.


2015 FA Community Shield, Post-match
In a post-match interview, Mourinho credited Arsenal's defensive approach and organisation, but felt "the best team lost", arguing that Chelsea created more chances and showed more initiative. He went on to suggest that Arsenal betrayed their attacking philosophy, choosing to adopt a counterattacking approach. Although Wenger agreed his team were set-up cautiously, he denied they abandoned their playing style: "...we defend our game on togetherness and solidarity and on defending well and attacking well." The Arsenal manager felt victory against Chelsea acted as a physiological boost for his players going into the new season, but was indifferent to his own record of beating Mourinho for the first time.


2015 FA Community Shield, Post-match
Terry was disappointed with the result, observing "No matter if it’s a friendly or a Community Shield, it’s a trophy at the end of the day," but sought positives – focusing on how the players' fitness levels were rising in time for the new season. Mertesacker was delighted with his team's performance, describing it as the peak of their pre-season preparations.


2015 FA Community Shield, Post-match
Both managers criticised the quality of the pitch; Mourinho remarked that it "was a disaster... so bad and so slow." An FA spokesperson said: "We will continue to improve the quality of the pitch, which we have every confidence in. In this instance it is simply that the pitch is less mature than we would ordinarily wish given the summer concert season and the early start to the football calendar."


2015 FA Community Shield, Post-match
An average of 821,000 viewers watched the match live on BT Sport 2; the channel's coverage peaked at 1.2 million (11.5% of the audience share) from 16:40. Highlights on BBC One later that evening attracted 2.1 million viewers (17%).


2015 FA Cup Final
The 2015 FA Cup Final was an association football match played between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 May 2015. Organised by the Football Association (FA), it was the 134th final of the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), the world's oldest football cup competition. En route to the final, Arsenal defeated Hull City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Middlesbrough, Manchester United and Reading (after extra time). Aston Villa secured victories over Blackpool, Bournemouth, Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool in the rounds before the final.


2015 FA Cup Final
Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the lead in the 40th minute. Nacho Monreal crossed from the left side of the pitch to Alexis Sánchez whose header found Walcott who struck the ball on the volley into the goal. Ten minutes later, Alexis Sánchez struck the ball from around 30 yards (27 m) into the roof of the Aston Villa net to double his side's lead before Per Mertesacker made it 3–0 with a header midway through the second half. Three minutes into stoppage time, Olivier Giroud scored from close range to give Arsenal a 4–0 victory. It was the sixth FA Cup win for manager Arsène Wenger, putting him in joint first place for wins with George Ramsay.


2015 FA Cup Final
Arsenal had already qualified for the Champions League by finishing third in the Premier League, and following a change in UEFA rules, the remaining Europa League place went to Southampton, the highest-placed Premier League team that had not qualified for any European competition instead of Aston Villa. As FA Cup winners, Arsenal played Chelsea, winners of the Premier League, in the 2015 FA Community Shield at Wembley.


2015 FA Cup Final, Background
The FA Cup is an annual knockout tournament involving professional and amateur men's football clubs in the English football league system. It is the world's oldest football cup competition. The 2015 final was the 134th final to be played since it was first held in 1872.


2015 FA Cup Final, Background
Arsenal were playing a record nineteenth FA Cup final, surpassing Manchester United. Of these, they had won eleven, a joint record with Manchester United, most recently the previous season's final against Hull City. Their most recent defeat in the final was in 2001, losing 2–1 to Liverpool. It was Aston Villa's eleventh final, of which they had won seven, most recently in 1957 with a 2–1 win over Manchester United. Their most recent final was a 1–0 defeat to Chelsea in 2000.


2015 FA Cup Final, Background
Arsenal and Aston Villa played twice during the league season, both games resulting in Arsenal victories. On 20 September 2014, they won 3–0 at Villa Park with three goals in less than four minutes of the first half, from Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck and an own goal from Aly Cissokho off a shot from Kieran Gibbs. At their home ground, the Emirates Stadium, on 1 February 2015, Arsenal triumphed 5–0 with goals by Olivier Giroud, Özil, Theo Walcott, a penalty kick by Santi Cazorla after goalkeeper Brad Guzan had committed a foul on Chuba Akpom, and Héctor Bellerín.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Arsenal
FA Cup holders Arsenal, as a Premier League club, entered the competition in the third round where they were drawn at home against fellow top-flight team Hull City in a repeat of the previous year's final. At the Emirates Stadium, Per Mertesacker scored in the 20th minute with a header from an Alexis Sánchez corner. With eight minutes remaining, Sánchez doubled Arsenal's lead with a strike from inside the Hull penalty area and his side won the match 2–0. In the fourth round, Arsenal's opposition were Championship team Brighton & Hove Albion away at the Falmer Stadium.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Arsenal
Arsenal's Walcott opened the scoring after less than two minutes from a Calum Chambers cross before Özil made it 2–0 midway through the first half. Chris O'Grady scored for Brighton five minutes after half-time but Tomáš Rosický restored Arsenal's two-goal advantage nine minutes later with a volley after a one-two with Giroud. Sam Baldock's 75th-minute goal made it 3–2 but no further goals were scored and Arsenal progressed to the fifth round. There, they were drawn at home against Middlesbrough, another Championship club, at the Emirates Stadium. Giroud scored twice in the space of three first-half minutes and, after a goalless second half, Arsenal secured their passage to the sixth round with a 2–0 victory.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Arsenal
Arsenal were drawn away at Manchester United in a match televised on BBC One on a Monday evening. This led to criticism from Arsenal supporters as they suggested there would be no trains back to London after the match. Despite this, 9,000 away supporters attended the game at Old Trafford. Nacho Monreal gave the visiting side the lead in the 25th minute from close range after receiving a pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Wayne Rooney equalised for Manchester United four minutes later, heading an Ángel Di María cross past Wojciech Szczęsny in the Arsenal goal.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Arsenal
Former Manchester United player Welbeck then capitalised on a poor backpass by Antonio Valencia to take possession of the ball, dribbling it round David de Gea and scoring to make it 2–1. Di María was sent off with 14 minutes of the game remaining and the match ended without further scoring. In the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium, a neutral venue, Arsenal faced Championship side Reading. Sánchez scored from close range in the 39th minute before Reading's Garath McCleary equalised with a volley nine minutes into the second half.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Arsenal
With the score level at the end of regular time, the match went into extra time when Sánchez scored in stoppage time of the first period to restore his side's lead. The second period of extra time was goalless ending the match 2–1, and Arsenal reached the FA Cup Final for the second consecutive year.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Aston Villa
Also a Premier League team, Aston Villa entered the tournament in the third round with a 1–0 home win over Championship club Blackpool. Christian Benteke scored the only goal two minutes from the end of the game when he controlled a pass from Carlos Sánchez before striking it past Blackpool goalkeeper Joe Lewis from around 18 yards (16 m). In the fourth round, they faced another second-tier team at home, Bournemouth.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Aston Villa
After a goalless first half, Carles Gil opened the scoring for Aston Villa on his debut six minutes after half-time with a 25-yard (23 m) curling strike past Lee Camp. Twenty minutes later, the lead was doubled by Andreas Weimann who scored from Alan Hutton's pass. Bournemouth substitute Callum Wilson scored in second-half stoppage time but Aston Villa won the match 2–1. Two weeks after the fourth round, Aston Villa's manager Paul Lambert was dismissed with his side in the relegation positions in the Premier League.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Aston Villa
He was replaced by Tim Sherwood and in the fifth round, his side were drawn at home, this time against Premier League club Leicester City. The first half ended 0–0 but Leandro Bacuna scored midway through the second half with a curling shot from outside the Leicester City penalty area. Scott Sinclair scored Aston Villa's second in the 89th minute after the ball was fumbled by Mark Schwarzer, the Leicester City goalkeeper. Andrej Kramarić scored a consolation goal one minute into stoppage time but Aston Villa progressed with a 2–1 win.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Aston Villa
The sixth round draw saw Aston Villa drawn at home against West Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion. After a goalless first half, Fabian Delph gave the home side the lead after receiving the ball from Charles N'Zogbia and striking it low past West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Boaz Myhill. With ten minutes to go, West Bromwich Albion's Claudio Yacob was sent off after receiving a second yellow card and Sinclair doubled Aston Villa's lead five minutes later.


2015 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Aston Villa
Substitute Jack Grealish, who had been on the pitch less than 20 minutes, was sent off in second-half stoppage time for a second yellow card, but his side won 2–0. The victory prompted a pitch invasion for which Aston Villa were charged by The Football Association. In the semi-final at Wembley Stadium, Aston Villa faced Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho gave Liverpool the lead in the 30th minute, shooting past Shay Given in the Aston Villa goal. Benteke scored the equaliser six minutes later, sidefooting the ball past Simon Mignolet, the Liverpool goalkeeper. Delph then gave Aston Villa the lead 11 minutes into the second half to secure his side a 2–1 victory. Aston Villa reached the final for the first time since 2000.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Pre-match
Children's television programme Blue Peter ran a competition to design the mascot for the final. The winning entry was "Billie", a horse inspired by the one which controlled the crowds ahead of the 1923 final.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Pre-match
Former England international Phil Neville, one of the judges in the competition, said that: "I think the design is great, the story behind it is even better and I think it’s something everyone’s going to be really impressed with.”  Religious television programme Songs of Praise ran a competition to be part of a 64-person choir to sing the traditional hymn "Abide with Me" before the final. The 64 were fans of each of the clubs which reached the third round of the competition, including a 99-year-old Newcastle United fan and a Liverpool fan who survived the Hillsborough disaster. The music was performed by the Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Pre-match
Following the semi-finals, both clubs met at Wembley to discuss final arrangements. Arsenal were designated as the "home" team because they were first alphabetically. Despite this, Aston Villa won the pre-match coin toss for choice of strips and chose to wear their home claret and blue kit that they had worn for all of the previous rounds. Arsenal decided to wear their yellow and blue away strip instead of their dark blue cup kit. The BBC devoted a whole day of programming to the final, reviving the tradition of its all-day coverage. Both Aston Villa and Arsenal received a ticket allocation of 25,000 for the game with 17,000 being offered to members of Club Wembley, de facto season ticket holders at Wembley Stadium. Ticket prices ranged from £50, £70, £90 and £120.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Aston Villa kicked off the final at around 5:30 p.m. on 30 May 2015 in front of a crowd of 89,283 spectators, under scatter cloudy conditions and a temperature of around 16 °C (61 °F). Two minutes into the match, Alexis Sánchez was fouled by Ashley Westwood, and from the resulting free kick, Özil eventually headed the ball on to Walcott but he was deemed to be in an offside position. Two minutes later, Delph's cross was caught by Arsenal goalkeeper Szczesny.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
In the eighth minute, Cazorla's low shot from inside the Aston Villa penalty area was defended by Hutton, and from the second of two subsequent corners, Koscielny headed wide of the goal. Benteke then fouled Cazorla but Özil's free kick was easily cleared by Ron Vlaar. Richardson's 13th-minute cross was then punched clear by Szczesny to deny Benteke a chance to open the scoring. A minute later, Tom Cleverley became the first player to be booked after he fouled Monreal. From the resulting free kick, Koscielny's header was saved by Given in the Aston Villa goal. In the 17th minute, Bellerin turned past Richardson and sent in a low cross to Aaron Ramsey whose shot hit the side netting. Özil's 20th minute pass found Ramsey inside the penalty area but his shot was high over the Aston Villa crossbar.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
Midway through the first half, Özil crossed to Walcott who was 6 yards (5 m) out from the Aston Villa goal but he was denied by a sliding tackle from Richardson. In the 28th minute, Francis Coquelin passed to Ramsey who ran into the Aston Villa penalty area but his shot took a deflection off Vlaar and was easily caught by Given. Six minutes later, Hutton was shown the yellow card for a late tackle on Alexis Sánchez but Aston Villa eventually cleared the resulting free kick. In the 38th minute, Delph was booked for repeated fouls.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, First half
With five minutes of the half remaining, Arsenal took the lead through Walcott. Monreal crossed from the left side of the pitch and found Alexis Sánchez;  he headed back to Walcott who ran into the Aston Villa penalty area to strike the ball on the volley into the goal. After two minutes of stoppage time, the first half was brought to a close with the score at 1–0.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
Neither side made changes to their personnel during the half-time interval and Arsenal kicked off the second half, with Ramsey's early shot being easily saved by Given. In the 50th minute, Alexis Sánchez struck the ball from around 30 yards (27 m) into the roof of the Aston Villa net to double his side's lead. Two minutes later, Westwood was booked for a foul on Alexis Sánchez before Aston Villa made their first substitution of the match with N'Zogbia being replaced by Agbonlahor.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
Alexis Sánchez then headed the ball into the Aston Villa goal but it was disallowed by the referee for offside. Cazorla's 57th minute low shot was saved by Given before Mertesacker scored with a header from a Cazorla corner, making it 3–0 to Arsenal in the 62nd minute. Midway through the second half, Delph's free kick was easily gathered by Szczesny, before Bacuna came on to replace an injured Richardson and Carlos Sánchez was brought on for Westwood.


2015 FA Cup Final, Match, Summary, Second half
In the 76th minute, Walcott's curling long-range shot was high and wide, before he was replaced by Giroud, and Wilshere came on for Özil. Agbonlahor was then brought down on the edge of the Arsenal area and claimed for a penalty but nothing was given by the referee. The Aston Villa player was then booked for his protests. Bellerin subsequently tackled Grealish in the Arsenal penalty area but once again, no foul was given. Grealish's subsequent 25-yard (23 m) shot was blocked before Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for Alexis Sánchez. In the third minute of second-half stoppage time, Oxlade-Chamberlain's pass found Giroud who flicked the ball into the Aston Villa goal to make it 4–0 to Arsenal, the final score. In winning their 12th FA Cup, they became the most successful team in the competition's history.


2015 FA Cup Final, Post-match
This was the sixth FA Cup win for manager Arsène Wenger, putting him in joint first place for wins with George Ramsay. Wenger said "We have shown today that we are a real team. I’d like to congratulate everyone, my players, my staff, the supporters" and described it as "the perfect day". Mertesacker said "We deserved this today. We played on the front foot from the start and that makes a massive difference". Sherwood conceded that Arsenal had deserved to win, saying "I can't make any excuses for that today, Arsenal were too good for us. We couldn't impose ourselves on them or nullify what they had." His captain, Delph, agreed, noting "Arsenal showed why they deserved the win. We were up against it, we tried to dig deep but their quality shone through and we struggled."


2015 FA Cup Final, Post-match
The game was broadcast live in the UK on free-to-air TV on BBC One and on pay TV on BT Sport. It was the first FA Cup Final broadcast by the BBC in seven years and they restored the tradition of having an all-day build-up for the final, linking up with other BBC programmes. The game's viewership on BBC One peaked at 8.8 million with an average of 8 million.