The 2016 Veikkausliiga is the 86th season of top-tier football in Finland. The season started on 2 April 2016; the regular season ended on 23 October 2016, with a promotion/relegation playoff continuing until 29 October.Otteluohjelma | Veikkausliiga SJK were the defending champions.
Teams FF Jaro were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2015 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions PS Kemi.
KTP as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team PK-35 Vantaa 3–2 on aggregate in a relegation/promotion playoff.
Stadia and locations
ClubLocationStadiumCapacityFC InterTurkuVeritas Stadion10,000FC LahtiLahtiLahden kisapuisto4,000HIFKHelsinkiSonera Stadium10,770HJKHelsinkiSonera Stadium10,770IFK MariehamnMariehamnWiklöf Holding Arena4,000IlvesTampereTammela Stadion5,040KuPSKuopioSavon Sanomat Areena5,000PK-35 VantaaVantaaMyyrmäen jalkapallostadion4,500PS KemiKemiSauvosaaren Urheilupuisto4,500RoPSRovaniemiRovaniemen keskuskenttä4,000SJKSeinäjokiOmaSP Stadion6,000VPSVaasaHietalahti Stadium4,600 SJK will move to their new stadium OmaSp Stadion in June 2016 (capacity 6,000).
Personnel and kits ClubManagerCaptainKit manufacturerSponsorsFC Inter NikeAlfons HåkansFC Lahti UmbroBE Group Lahti Energia HaltonHIFK Kappa/Puma Aktia BankHJK AdidasApuIFK Mariehamn PumaHotell ArkipelagIlves AdidasVariousKuPS PumaLaitilan WirvoitusjuomatehdasPK-35 Vantaa NikeVantaan EnergiaPS Kemi StannoVariousRoPS PumaSarawareSJK AdidasLähiTapiola EPKK Prima PowerVPS PumaVarious
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentTableIlves Marco BaruffatoEnd of contractn/a Jarkko Wiss6 November 2015Pre-seasonIFK Mariehamn Pekka LyyskiEnd of contractn/a Kari Virtanen Peter Lundberg19 November 2015Pre-seasonFC Inter Job DragtsmaMutual termination26 May 2016 Jami Wallenius (as caretaker)26 May 20167thPK-35 Vantaa Shefki KuqiMutual termination27 July 2016 Pasi Pihamaa27 July 201612thHIFK Jani HonkavaaraSacked27 July 2016 Antti Muurinen28 July 201611thFC Inter Jami Wallenius (as caretaker)Mutual termination3 August 2016 Shefki Kuqi3 August 201610th
League table
Results
Matches 1–22
Matches 23–33
Relegation play-offs
Statistics Top scorers Source: veikkausliiga.com
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Roope RiskiSJK172 Njazi KuqiPK-35 Vantaa / FC Inter16 Alfredo MorelosHJK164 Gbolahan SalamiKuPS145 Billy IonsPS Kemi / SJK136 Dever OrgillIFK Mariehamn127 Robert TaylorRoPS118 Pyry SoiriVPS10 Jasse TuominenFC Lahti1010 Lauri Ala-MyllymäkiIlves9 Aleksandr KokkoRoPS9 Jussi VasaraSJK9133 players8165 players7214 players6255 players53010 players4409 players34930 players27972 players1
Awards MonthCoach of the MonthPlayer of the MonthAprilWalter Viitala huhtikuun kuukauden pelaaja Peter Lundberg (IFK Mariehamn) Kari Virtanen (IFK Mariehamn) Walter Viitala (IFK Mariehamn)MayTaye Taiwo valittiin kuukauden pelaajaksi Mika Lehkosuo (HJK) Taye Taiwo (HJK)JuneRoope Riski kuukauden pelaajaksi Juha Malinen (RoPS) Roope Riski (SJK)JulyPyry Soiri kuukauden pelaajaksi Petri Vuorinen (VPS) Pyry Soiri (VPS)AugustErik Törnros kuukauden pelaajaksi Jari Åhman (PS Kemi) Erik Törnros (PS Kemi)SeptemberHJK:n Morelos kuukauden pelaajaksi Jarkko Wiss (Ilves) Alfredo Morelos (HJK)OctoberJani Lyyski kuukauden pelaajaksi Peter Lundberg (IFK Mariehamn) Kari Virtanen (IFK Mariehamn) Jani Lyyski (IFK Mariehamn) Annual awards AwardWinnerClubPlayer of the Year Emile Paul TendengIlves Goalkeeper of the Year Walter ViitalaMariehamn Defender of the Year Jani LyyskiMariehamn Midfielder of the Year Emile Paul TendengIlves Striker of the Year Alfredo MorelosHJK Breakthrough of the Year Mikael SoisaloIlves Coach of the Year Peter LundbergMariehamn Team of the Year
Team of the YearGoalkeeper Walter Viitala (Mariehamn)Defence Albin Granlund (Mariehamn)Jani Lyyski (Mariehamn) Kristian Kojola (Mariehamn)Taye Taiwo (HJK)MidfieldMikael Soisalo (Ilves)Mika Väyrynen (HIFK) Atomu Tanaka (HJK)Emile Tendeng (Ilves)Attack Roope Riski (SJK) Alfredo Morelos (HJK)
Attendances
No. Club Average Change Highest 1 HJK 5,101 −3.4% 10,500 2 HIFK 3,632 +17.9% 10,500 3 Ilves 3,351 +2.6% 5,050 4 SJK 3,103 +15.4% 5,817 5 VPS 2,935 +40.0% 5,987 6 Inter Turku 2,255 −7.6% 4,760 7 KuPS 2,098 −10.0% 4,457 8 Lahti 2,052 −3.9% 3,647 9 RoPS 1,763 −22.6% 3,024 10 Kemi 1,551 +59.3% 3,976 11 Mariehamn 1,503 +15.3% 4,335 12 PK-35 1,229 +103.1% 2,832Source:
References