2016–17 Belgian First Division A

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.[1] Club Brugge were the defending champions but had to settle for second place with Anderlecht taking their 34th title.

Belgian First Division A
Season2016–17
Dates29 July 2016 – 31 May 2017
ChampionsAnderlecht
RelegatedWesterlo
Champions LeagueAnderlecht
Club Brugge
Europa LeagueZulte Waregem
Gent
Oostende
Matches played191
Goals scored525 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorerŁukasz Teodorczyk
(22 goals)
All statistics correct as of 29 January 2017.

Team changes

Teams

Stadiums and locations
Location of the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A teams
Matricule Club Location Venue Capacity
35 Anderlecht Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,000
22 Charleroi Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 14,000
3 Club Brugge Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042
4276 Eupen Eupen Kehrweg Stadion 8,363
322 Genk Genk Cristal Arena 24,956
7 Gent Ghent Ghelamco Arena 19,999
19 Kortrijk Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,399
282 Lokeren Lokeren Daknamstadion 9,560
25 Mechelen Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 13,213
216 Excel Mouscron Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571
31 Oostende Ostend Versluys Arena 8,432
373 Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden Stayen 14,600
16 Standard Liège Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 28,278
4068 Waasland-Beveren Beveren Freethiel Stadion 8,190
2024 Westerlo Westerlo Het Kuipje 8,035
5381 Zulte Waregem 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[2] Pre-season Ivan Leko 14 April 2016[3]
Anderlecht Besnik Hasi Mutual consent End of 2015–16 season[4] René Weiler 21 June 2016
Kortrijk Patrick De Wilde Mutual consent End of 2015–16 season[5] Karim Belhocine 1 July 2016[5]
Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Did not possess Pro-licence diploma 29 August 2016[6] 8th Bart Van Lancker 29 August 2016[6]
Standard Liège Yannick Ferrera Sacked 6 September 2016[7] 10th Aleksandar Janković 6 September 2016[7]
Mechelen Aleksandar Janković Signed by Standard Liège 6 September 2016[7] 7th Yannick Ferrera 12 September 2016[8]
Westerlo Bob Peeters Sacked 13 September 2016[9] 16th Jacky Mathijssen 14 September 2016[10]
Lokeren Georges Leekens Sacked 26 October 2016[11] 12th Rúnar Kristinsson 28 October 2016[12]
Waasland-Beveren Stijn Vreven Sacked 28 October 2016[13] 14th Čedomir Janevski 7 November 2016[14]
Excel Mouscron Glen De Boeck Sacked 5 December 2016[15] 15th Mircea Rednic 6 December 2016[16]
Genk Peter Maes Sacked 26 December 2016[17] 9th Albert Stuivenberg 27 December 2016
Kortrijk Bart Van Lancker Belhocine obtained Pro-licence diploma 8 March 2017[18] 10th Karim Belhocine 8 March 2017[18]
Standard Liège Aleksandar Janković Sacked 17 April 2017[19] Regular season: 9th
Europa League POs: 5th		 José Jeunechamps (caretaker) 17 April 2017

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Anderlecht 30 18 7 5 67 30 +37 61 Qualification for the championship play-offs
2 Club Brugge 30 18 5 7 56 24 +32 59
3 Zulte Waregem 30 15 9 6 49 38 +11 54
4 Gent 30 14 8 8 45 29 +16 50
5 Oostende 30 14 8 8 52 37 +15 50
6 Charleroi 30 13 10 7 34 29 +5 49[lower-alpha 1]
7 Mechelen 30 14 6 10 41 36 +5 48 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs
8 Genk 30 14 6 10 40 35 +5 48
9 Standard Liège 30 10 12 8 47 38 +9 39[lower-alpha 1]
10 Kortrijk 30 8 7 15 38 55 −17 31
11 Lokeren 30 7 10 13 24 34 −10 31
12 Sint-Truiden 30 8 6 16 35 48 −13 30
13 Eupen 30 8 6 16 40 64 −24 30
14 Waasland-Beveren 30 7 9 14 28 43 −15 30
15 Excel Mouscron 30 7 3 20 29 53 −24 24
16 Westerlo (R) 30 5 8 17 33 65 −32 23 Relegation to the First Division B
Source: Belgian First Division A (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[22]
(R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. The match between Charleroi and Standard Liège on 4 December was stopped after 68 minutes after supporters from both teams had been throwing objects and fireworks onto the pitch, with Standard leading 3–1. On 15 December, the Royal Belgian Football Association decided to award zero points to both teams.[20] Standard appealed this decision, however the Belgian arbitration court for sports finally ruled that the decision would stand, meaning the 3–1 score was kept but no points were awarded. Standard Liège was however relieved of the penalty to play one match behind closed doors.[21]

Results
Home \ Away AND BRU CHA EUP GNK GNT KVK LOK KVM EXM KVO STA STV WBE WES ZWA
Anderlecht — 0–0 3–2 4–0 2–0 2–2 5–1 1–0 2–0 7–0 1–1 0–0 3–1 3–0 1–2 4–2
Club Brugge 2–1 — 1–0 3–2 1–1 1–0 5–1 1–0 6–1 2–1 2–0 2–2 2–2 2–1 4–0 5–0
Charleroi 0–2 1–0 — 3–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–1 1–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1
Eupen 2–2 1–4 2–2 — 0–1 3–2 1–0 2–2 0–2 1–4 2–1 2–2 4–2 0–2 3–3 1–3
Genk 0–2 2–1 1–1 2–0 — 2–0 3–0 1–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–0
Gent 2–3 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 — 3–0 3–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 4–2 3–0
Kortrijk 1–3 2–1 2–1 1–1 4–1 1–1 — 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 3–3 0–1 1–2 4–1 2–3
Lokeren 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–3 0–0 2–1 — 0–0 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–1
Mechelen 3–2 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 3–0 — 2–0 2–3 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 2–3
Mouscron 1–2 0–3 0–1 3–0 2–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–4 — 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–5
Oostende 1–4 1–0 1–2 1–3 6–0 1–0 2–2 0–0 2–0 2–1 — 3–1 2–2 2–1 5–0 1–1
Standard Liège 0–1 0–3 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 0–3 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–2 — 2–0 5–0 3–1 4–1
Sint-Truiden 0–0 0–1 2–2 2–1 0–3 3–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 2–2 — 4–1 2–2 0–2
Waasland-Beveren 2–1 1–0 0–1 4–2 0–0 2–3 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 — 0–0 0–2
Westerlo 2–4 1–2 0–0 1–2 0–4 0–0 4–1 1–3 1–2 1–3 0–4 2–2 1–0 1–0 — 1–2
Zulte Waregem 3–2 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 4–1 1–1 2–2 —
Source: Belgian Pro League (in Dutch)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
  1. The match between Charleroi and Standard Liège on 4 December was stopped after 68 minutes after supporters from both teams had been throwing objects and fireworks onto the pitch, with Standard leading 3–1. On 15 December, the Royal Belgian Football Association decided to award zero points to both teams.[23] Standard appealed this decision, however the Belgian arbitration court for sports finally ruled that the decision would stand, meaning the 3–1 score was kept but no points were awarded. Standard Liège was however relieved of the penalty to play one match behind closed doors.[24]

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
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AND CLU GNT OOS CHA ZWA
1 Anderlecht (C) 10 6 3 1 14 6 +8 52 Qualification for the Champions League group stage — 2–0 0–0 3–2 0–1 2–0
2 Club Brugge 10 4 3 3 16 14 +2 45 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round 1–1 — 3–1 1–1 2–1
3 Gent 10 4 4 2 16 11 +5 41 Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round 0–0 2–1 — 1–1 1–1 5–2
4 Oostende (O) 10 3 3 4 14 17 −3 37 Qualification for the Europa League play-off final 0–1 2–1 4–3 — 1–0 1–1
5 Charleroi 10 2 4 4 10 13 −3 35 1–3 1–3 0–1 1–1 — 2–0
6 Zulte Waregem 10 1 3 6 12 21 −9 33 Qualification for the Europa League group stage[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 2–2 0–2 3–1 2–2 —
Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Matches won; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Away matches won; 8) Play-off.[25]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.
Notes:
  1. Zulte Waregem qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2016–17 Belgian Cup.

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
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification STV KVM W-B STA USG LIE
1 Sint-Truiden (Q) 10 7 1 2 23 7 +16 22 Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final — 7–0 3–0 1–0 0–1 2–1
2 Mechelen 10 5 1 4 7 16 −9 16 1–0 — 1–3 1–0 1–0 1–0
3 Waasland-Beveren 10 5 0 5 17 19 −2 15 0–1 1–2 — 1–3 1–4 3–2
4 Standard Liège 10 4 2 4 14 11 +3 14 2–2 2–0 0–2 — 3–1 2–0
5 Union SG 10 3 1 6 15 19 −4 10 1–4 3–0 1–3 2–2 — 1–3
6 Lierse 10 3 1 6 12 16 −4 10 1–3 0–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 —
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[26]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GNK LOK EUP KVK EXM ROE
1 Genk (Q) 10 8 2 0 26 4 +22 26 Qualification for the Europa League play-off semi-final — 4–0 2–1 3–0 6–0 3–1
2 Lokeren 10 3 6 1 21 20 +1 15 1–1 — 4–1 0–0 2–2 2–1
3 Eupen 10 3 4 3 20 20 0 13 1–1 3–3 — 3–2 2–0 2–2
4 Kortrijk 10 3 3 4 15 22 −7 12 0–3 4–4 3–3 — 2–1 0–3
5 Excel Mouscron 10 2 2 6 11 22 −11 8 0–2 2–2 0–2 0–1 — 1–0
6 Roeselare 10 2 1 7 17 22 −5 7 0–1 2–3 3–2 2–3 3–5 —
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[27]
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

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.

Genk3–0Sint-Truiden
Buffel  32'
Boëtius  43'
Samatta  55'		 Pro League
Soccerway
Referee: Nicolas Laforge

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.

Oostende3–1Genk
Akpala  27'
Rozehnal  32'
Jali  51'		 Sporza Schrijvers  45' (pen.)
Referee: Lawrence Visser

Season statistics

Clean sheets
As of matches played on 25 February 2017.[30]
Rank Player Club Clean sheets
1 Ludovic Butelle Club Brugge 12
2 Colin Coosemans Mechelen 9
Nicolas Penneteau Charleroi 9
4 Jean-François Gillet Standard 8
5 Marco Bizot Genk 7
6 Frank Boeckx Anderlecht 6
Sammy Bossut Zulte Waregem 6
Copa Lokeren 6
Koen Van Langendonck Westerlo 6
10 William Dutoit Sint-Truiden & Oostende 5
László Köteles Waasland-Beveren 5
Anthony Moris Mechelen 5
Davy Roef Anderlecht 5
Yannick Thoelen Gent 5

Number of teams by provinces
Number of teams Province or region Team(s)
4  West FlandersClub Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem
3  East FlandersGent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren
2  AntwerpMechelen and Westerlo
 HainautCharleroi and Mouscron
 LiègeEupen and Standard Liège
 LimburgGenk and Sint-Truiden
1  BrusselsAnderlecht
0  Flemish Brabant,  Walloon Brabant,  Namur and  Luxembourg/

Attendances

Football clubs with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:[31]

Team Home average
Club Brugge26,691
Standard de Liège21,802
KAA Gent19,807
RSC Anderlecht18,333
KRC Genk16,104
KV Mechelen11,991

References
  1. "KV Mechelen - Club Brugge openingsmatch Jupiler Pro League 2016-2017". Belgian First Division A. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  2. "STVV gaat niet door met coach O'Loughlin: "Zoeken opnieuw een jeugdige trainer"" [STVV does not continue with manager O'Loughlin: "We're looking for a youthful trainer again"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-04-04.
  3. "Ivan Leko wordt coach van STVV: "Dit is een ambitieuze club"" [Ivan Leko becomes manager of STVV: "This is an ambitious club"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-04-14.
  4. "Hasi is niet langer coach van Anderlecht" [Hasi no longer manager at Anderlecht] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-05-25.
  5. "Kortrijk en De Wilde zetten hun samenwerking stop, nieuwe spits tekent" [Kortrijk and De Wilde stop cooperation, nieuwe spits tekent] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-07-01.
  6. "Bart Van Lancker is nieuwe stroman bij KV Kortrijk" [Bart Van Lancker is new jackstraw at KV Kortrijk] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-08-29.
  7. "Standard stopt met Yannick Ferrera en verwelkomt Aleksandar Jankovic" [Standard ends cooperation with Yannick Ferrera and welcomes Aleksandar Jankovic] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-09-06.
  8. "Ferrera: "KVM is beste wat me kon overkomen na Standard"" [Ferrera: "KVM best thing which could happen to me after Standard"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-09-12.
  9. "Bob Peeters krijgt zijn ontslag bij Westerlo" [Bob Peeters gets sacked at Westerlo] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-09-13.
  10. "Jacky Mathijssen moet Westerlo uit de gevarenzone loodsen" [Jacky Mathijssen to lead Westerlo out of danger zone] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-09-14.
  11. "Georges Leekens is niet langer trainer van Lokeren" [Georges Leekens no longer trainer at Lokeren] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2016-10-26.
  12. "Lokeren legt lot in handen van Runar Kristinsson: IJslander volgt Georges Leekens op". Knack (in Dutch). 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  13. "Vreven vertrekt bij Waasland-Beveren". RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). 28 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  14. "Janevski volgt Vreven op bij Waasland-Beveren". Sport.be (in Dutch). 7 November 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  15. "Moeskroen zet Glen De Boeck op de keien" [Mouscron kicks Glen De Boeck to the curb]. sporza.be (in Dutch). 5 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  16. "Mircea Rednic moet Moeskroen uit de nood helpen" [Mircea Rednic to help Mouscron get out of trouble]. sporza.be (in Dutch). 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  17. "Peter Maes is ontslagen als coach van KRC Genk" [Peter Maes sacked as head coach of KRC Genk]. sporza.be (in Dutch). 5 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  18. "Belhocine neemt opnieuw over als T1 bij KV Kortrijk" [Belhocine again takes over as head coach at KV Kortrijk] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2017-03-08.
  19. "Aleksandar Jankovic is ontslagen bij Standard" [Aleksandar Jankovic sacked at Standard] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2017-04-17.
  20. "Geen punten voor Charleroi en Standard (No points for Charleroi and Standard)" (in Dutch). Jupiler Pro League. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  21. "Noch Standard noch Charleroi krijgt punten" [Neither Standard nor Charleroi receives points] (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  22. "First Division A 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  23. "Geen punten voor Charleroi en Standard (No points for Charleroi and Standard)" (in Dutch). Jupiler Pro League. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  24. "Noch Standard noch Charleroi krijgt punten" [Neither Standard nor Charleroi receives points] (in Dutch). Sporza.be. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  25. "FIRST DIVISION A 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  26. "FIRST DIVISION A 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  27. "FIRST DIVISION A 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  28. "Summary - First Division A - Belgium - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  29. "Jupiler Pro League (Belgié) - Wie zorgde voor de meeste goals en assists in 2016 - 2017? | Voetbalkrant.com". Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  30. "TEXACO CLEAN SHEET". Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  31. http://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/bel-eerste-klasse-2016-2017/1/
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