The 2016–17 season of the Belgian First Division A was the 114th season of top-tier football in Belgium and the first following the structural changes in the Belgian football pyramid, reducing the number of professional teams to 24. It began on 29 July 2016 and finished on 31 May 2017. The fixtures were announced on 8 June 2016. Club Brugge were the defending champions but had to settle for second place with Anderlecht taking their 34th title.
Team changes
OH Leuven was relegated after finishing last in the 2015–16 Belgian Pro League. Due to the fact that 2015–16 Belgian Second Division champions WS Brussels were refused a Belgian professional football license, Eupen was promoted as runner-up instead.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Matricule Club Location Venue Capacity 35 Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,000 22 Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 14,000 3 Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042 4276 Eupen Kehrweg Stadion 8,363 322 Genk Cristal Arena 24,956 7 Ghent Ghelamco Arena 19,999 19 Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,399 282 Lokeren Daknamstadion 9,560 25 Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 13,213 216 Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571 31 OstendVersluys Arena8,432 373 Sint-Truiden Stayen 14,600 16 Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 28,278 4068 Beveren Freethiel Stadion 8,190 2024 Westerlo Het Kuipje 8,035 5381 Waregem Regenboogstadion 9,540
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit Manufacturer Sponsors Anderlecht René Weiler Sofiane Hanni Adidas BNP Paribas Fortis Charleroi Felice Mazzu Francisco Martos Hungaria Proximus Club Brugge Michel Preud'homme Timmy Simons Nike Daikin Eupen Jordi Condom Aulí Luis García Fernández BURRDA Aspire Academy Excel Mouscron Mircea Rednic David Hubert Patrick Star Casino Genk Albert Stuivenberg Thomas Buffel Nike Beobank Gent Hein Vanhaezebrouck Danijel Milićević Jartazi VDK Spaarbank Kortrijk Bart Van Lancker Nebojša Pavlović Jako AGO Jobs & HR Lokeren Rúnar Kristinsson Killian Overmeire Jartazi QTeam Mechelen Yannick Ferrera Seth De Witte Kappa Telenet Oostende Yves Vanderhaeghe Sebastien Siani Joma Willems Veranda's Sint-Truiden Ivan Leko Steven De Petter Kappa Golden Palace Standard Liège Aleksandar Janković Alexander Scholz Kappa BASE Waasland-Beveren Čedomir Janevski Ibrahima Seck Kappa Circus Westerlo Jacky Mathijssen Koen Van Langendonck 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 Sint-Truiden Chris O'Loughlin Sacked End of 2015–16 season Pre-season Ivan Leko 14 April 2016 Anderlecht Besnik Hasi Mutual consent End of 2015–16 season René Weiler 21 June 2016 Kortrijk Patrick De Wilde Mutual consent End of 2015–16 season Karim Belhocine 1 July 2016 Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Did not possess Pro-licence diploma 29 August 2016 8th Bart Van Lancker 29 August 2016 Standard Liège Yannick Ferrera Sacked 6 September 2016 10th Aleksandar Janković 6 September 2016 Mechelen Aleksandar Janković Signed by Standard Liège 6 September 2016 7th Yannick Ferrera 12 September 2016 Westerlo Bob Peeters Sacked 13 September 2016 16th Jacky Mathijssen 14 September 2016 Lokeren Georges Leekens Sacked 26 October 2016 12th Rúnar Kristinsson 28 October 2016 Waasland-Beveren Stijn Vreven Sacked 28 October 2016 14th Čedomir Janevski 7 November 2016 Excel Mouscron Glen De Boeck Sacked 5 December 2016 15th Mircea Rednic 6 December 2016 Genk Peter Maes Sacked 26 December 2016 9th Albert Stuivenberg 27 December 2016 Kortrijk Bart Van Lancker Belhocine obtained Pro-licence diploma 8 March 2017 10th Karim Belhocine 8 March 2017 Standard Liège Aleksandar Janković Sacked 17 April 2017 Regular season: 9thEuropa League POs: 5th José Jeunechamps (caretaker) 17 April 2017
Regular season League table
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: Anderlecht 31 points, Club Brugge 30, Zulte Waregem 27, Gent 25, Oostende 25 and Charleroi 25. The points of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Charleroi were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted for these teams.
League table
Europa League play-offs Group A of the play-offs consisted of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2016–17 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 joined the second placed qualifier from the 2016–17 Belgian First Division B to form group B.
Group A
Group B
Semi-final The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match was played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. The winner of the semi-final advanced to the final to play for a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.
Final The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed team played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. KV Oostende qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, where they were eliminated by Olympique Marseille.
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Henry OnyekuruEupen22 Łukasz TeodorczykAnderlecht223 Orlando SáStandard174 Mbaye LeyeZulte Waregem16 Idriss SaadiKortrijk16 Jelle VossenClub Brugge167 Ishak BelfodilStandard14 Pieter GerkensSint-Truiden14 José IzquierdoClub Brugge1410 Youri TielemansAnderlecht13
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Alejandro PozueloGenk11 Youri TielemansAnderlecht11 Siebe SchrijversWaasland-Beveren/Genk114 Sofiane HanniAnderlecht10 Stef PeetersSint-Truiden106 Onur KayaZulte Waregem97 Alexandru ChipciuAnderlecht8 Mamadou SyllaEupen8 Fernando CanesinOostende810 Ruud VormerClub Brugge7
Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets1 Ludovic ButelleClub Brugge122 Colin CoosemansMechelen9 Nicolas PenneteauCharleroi94 Jean-François GilletStandard85 Marco BizotGenk76 Frank BoeckxAnderlecht6 Sammy BossutZulte Waregem6 CopaLokeren6 Koen Van LangendonckWesterlo610 William DutoitSint-Truiden & Oostende5 László KötelesWaasland-Beveren5 Anthony MorisMechelen5 Davy RoefAnderlecht5 Yannick ThoelenGent5
Number of teams by provinces Number of teams Province or region Team(s)4Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem3Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren2Mechelen and WesterloCharleroi and Mouscron Eupen and Standard LiègeGenk and Sint-Truiden 1Anderlecht 0, , and / Awards
Annual awards Award Player Club Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year Youri Tielemans Anderlecht Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year Landry Dimata KV Oostende Belgian Professional Football Manager of the Year René Weiler Anderlecht
Team of the Season Team of the Season Goalkeeper Colin Coosemans(KV Mechelen) Defence Kara Mbodj(Anderlecht) Omar Colley(Genk) Samuel Gigot(Gent) Ivan Obradović(Anderlecht) Midfield Leander Dendoncker(Anderlecht) Renato Neto(Gent) Ruud Vormer(Club Brugge) Attack Youri Tielemans(Anderlecht) José Izquierdo(Club Brugge) Łukasz Teodorczyk(Anderlecht)
Attendances The football clubs listed by average home league attendance:
Football clubHome averageClub Brugge 26,691Standard de Liège 21,802KAA Gent 19,807RSC Anderlecht 18,333KRC Genk 16,104KV Mechelen 11,991Zulte Waregem 9,578Sporting Charleroi 9,547KV Oostende 7,344Sporting Lokeren 7,117STVV 6,874KV Kortrijk 6,248KVC Westerlo 5,773Waasland-Beveren 4,537KAS Eupen 3,423Royal Excel Mouscron 3,337
References