The 2015–16 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started in the last week of July 2015 and finished in May 2016. Gent were the defending champions.
This marked the final season under the "Pro League" name, until the name was restored in 2022. A reorganization of the Belgian professional leagues ensued after the season, leading to the top league being renamed "First Division A" from the 2016–17 season.
Changes from 2014–15
Structural changes Some changes have been introduced compared to the previous season, with the most significant one being the relegation rules. Instead of organizing a relegation playoff between the teams finishing in the two last positions, this season will see the last team relegated immediately, while the team placed 15th will not participate in any playoff and will remain in the renamed Belgian First Division A.
Several other smaller changes were introduced, namely: The team finishing on top of the table following the regular season, will be assured at least place in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League in case they drop out of the top two positions and thereby miss out on the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. They will be awarded a spot in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, or even the Group stage in case the 2015–16 Belgian Cup winners finish in the top two. In case two or more teams finish with equal points after the Championship Playoff, the first tiebreaker will now be the finishing position during the regular season. The disciplinary record (number of yellow cards) will now be erased for all players after conclusion of the regular season. Any suspensions already obtained will be kept. In addition, during the playoffs, players will now pick up a one match ban already after three yellow cards, rather than five as during the regular season.
The first two of these rules were implemented as compensation for the rule that halves the points obtained during the regular season prior to the start of the championship playoff. This rule had been subject to complaints from several teams that had been leading after the regular season in recent seasons. The third rule was introduced to prevent players from intentionally receiving yellow cards near the end of the regular season. This tactic aimed to ensure they would be suspended before the playoffs, particularly against weaker teams, allowing them to start the deciding playoffs with a clean disciplinary record.
Team changes Cercle Brugge and Lierse were relegated. Cercle Brugge after losing the relegation playoff series against Lierse, while Lierse lost the promotion playoff. Sint-Truiden was promoted as 2014–15 Belgian Second Division champions. OH Leuven who won the promotion playoff and returned to the Belgian Pro League just one season after their relegation.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Club Location Venue Capacity Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,000 Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 14,000 Brugge Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042 Genk Cristal Arena 24,956 Ghent Ghelamco Arena 19,999 Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,399 Lokeren Daknamstadion 9,560 Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 13,213 Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571 Ostend Albertpark 8,000 Leuven Den Dreef 9,493 Sint-Truiden Stayen 14,600 Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 28,278 Beveren Freethiel Stadion 8,190 Westerlo Het Kuipje 8,035 Waregem Regenboogstadion 9,540
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit Manufacturer Sponsors Anderlecht Besnik Hasi Silvio Proto adidas BNP Paribas Fortis Charleroi Felice Mazzu Francisco Martos MAPS Proximus Club Brugge Michel Preud'homme Timmy Simons Nike Daikin Genk Peter Maes Thomas Buffel Nike Beobank Gent Hein Vanhaezebrouck Sven Kums Jartazi VDK Spaarbank Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Nebojša Pavlović Jako AGO Jobs & HR Lokeren Georges Leekens Killian Overmeire Jartazi QTeam Mechelen Aleksandar Janković Steven De Petter Kappa Telenet Mouscron-Péruwelz Glen De Boeck Noë Dussenne Patrick Trba Oostende Yves Vanderhaeghe Sébastien Siani Joma Willems Veranda's OH Leuven Emilio Ferrera Romain Reynaud Vermarc Just Eat Sint-Truiden Chris O'Loughlin Rob Schoofs Kappa Golden Palace Standard Liège Yannick Ferrera Adrien Trebel Kappa BASE Waasland-Beveren Stijn Vreven Miloš Marić Kappa Aims Tools Star Casino Westerlo Bob Peeters Filip Daems Saller Soudal Zulte-Waregem Francky Dury Mbaye Leye Patrick Record Bank
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment Waasland-Beveren Guido Brepoels Contract not prolonged End of 2014–15 season Pre-season Stijn Vreven 29 April 2015 Oostende Frederik Vanderbiest Replaced by Vanderhaeghe End of 2014–15 season Yves Vanderhaeghe 11 May 2015 Genk Alex McLeish Resigned End of 2014–15 season Peter Maes 26 May 2015 Kortrijk Yves Vanderhaeghe Signed by Oostende End of 2014–15 season Johan Walem 29 May 2015 Lokeren Peter Maes Signed by Genk End of 2014–15 season Bob Peeters 3 June 2015 Mouscron-Péruwelz Fernando Da Cruz Contract not prolonged End of 2014–15 season Čedomir Janevski 4 June 2015 Standard Liège José Riga Resigned End of 2014–15 season Slavoljub Muslin 5 June 2015 Standard Liège Slavoljub Muslin Sacked 28 August 2015 8th Éric Deflandre (caretaker) 28 August 2015 Standard Liège Éric Deflandre (caretaker) Caretaker replaced 7 September 2015 11th Yannick Ferrera 7 September 2015 Sint-Truiden Yannick Ferrera Signed by Standard Liège 7 September 2015 5th Chris O'Loughlin 8 September 2015 Lokeren Bob Peeters Sacked 24 October 2015 14th Georges Leekens 25 October 2015 OH Leuven Jacky Mathijssen Sacked 24 November 2015 15th Emilio Ferrera 26 November 2015 Westerlo Harm van Veldhoven Sacked 25 November 2015 16th Bob Peeters 26 November 2015 Mouscron-Péruwelz Čedomir Janevski Sacked 19 January 2016 15th Glen De Boeck 20 January 2016 Kortrijk Johan Walem Sacked 8 February 2016 9th Karim Belhocine 8 February 2016 Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Becomes technical director 1 April 2016 9th Patrick De Wilde 1 April 2016
Regular season
League table
Positions by round Note: The classification was made after the weekend (or midweek) of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the real evolution in standings.
On matchday 16, the matches Lokeren - Anderlecht and Mouscron-Péruwelz - Charleroi were postponed due to increased safety measures following the November 2015 Paris attacks. These matches were played on 22 and 23 December, between matchdays 20 and 21.
Results
Championship play-offs The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 32 points, Gent 30, Anderlecht 28, Oostende 25, Genk 24 and Zulte Waregem 22.
Play-off table
Positions by round Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.
Europa League play-offs Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 are placed in Group B.
Group A
Group B
Play off Semi finals The winners of both playoff groups compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs, called 2015–16 Belgian Pro League#Play off final. The winner of this Testmatch was granted an entry to the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
Charleroi won 3–1 on aggregate.
Play off final The matches were played over two legs between the Europa League play-off final winners and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs. The winner qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.
Genk won 5–3 on aggregate.
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Jérémy PerbetCharleroi202 Mbaye LeyeZulte Waregem183 Sofiane HanniMechelen174 Stefano OkakaAnderlecht145 CyriacOostende13 Laurent DepoitreGent Abdoulay DiabyClub Brugge Frédéric GounongbeWesterlo Sven KumsGent Jelle VossenClub Brugge
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Onur KayaZulte Waregem122 Mathieu DosseviStandard Liège103 Thibault MoulinWaasland-Beveren94 Leon BaileyGenk7 Sofiane HanniMechelen Danijel MilićevićGent Ayanda PatosiLokeren8 Franck BerrierOostende6 Steven DefourAnderlecht Anthony KnockaertStandard Liège Jordan LukakuOostende Tim MatthysMechelen Dennis PraetAnderlecht Jordan RemacleOH Leuven Clément TainmontCharleroi Leandro TrossardOH Leuven
Multiple goals in one match Key3Player scored three goals, completing a hat-trick.4Player scored four goals.*The home team