2015–16 South African Premiership

The 2015–16 South African Premiership season (known as the ABSA Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the Premiership since its establishment in 1996.

Premiership

Season	2015–16
Champions	Mamelodi Sundowns (7th title)
Relegated	Jomo Cosmos
Champions League	Bidvest Wits Mamelodi Sundowns
Confederation Cup	Platinum Stars SuperSport United
Matches played	240
Goals scored	562 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Collins Mbesuma (14)
Biggest home win	3 matches Bidvest Wits 5-0 Polokwane City (22 January 2016) Orlando Pirates 5-0 Jomo Cosmos (12 March 2016) Bloemfontein Celtic 5-0 Ajax Cape Town (1 May 2016)
Biggest away win	Platinum Stars 0-4 Bidvest Wits (4 November 2015)
Highest scoring	2 matches Jomo Cosmos 4-3 Chippa United (22 November 2015) Free State Stars 2-5 Mamelodi Sundowns (7 February 2016)
Longest winning run	Mamelodi Sundowns (6)
Longest unbeaten run	Mamelodi Sundowns (18)
Longest winless run	Bloemfontein Celtic Maritzburg United University of Pretoria (9)
Longest losing run	Maritzburg United (8)
Average attendance	6,520[1]
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 21 May 2016.

Mamelodi Sundowns won their seventh league title in dominant fashion, finishing 14 points ahead of second-place Bidvest Wits. League newcomers Jomo Cosmos dropped into last place for the first time all season in their final game, and were relegated to the National First Division for the 2016-17 season.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Gauteng

Ajax Cape Town

Bloemfontein Celtic

Chippa United

Free State Stars

Golden Arrows

Maritzburg United

Mpumalanga Black Aces

Platinum Stars

Polokwane City

Location of teams in the 2015–16 Premiership.

Bidvest Wits

Jomo Cosmos

Kaizer Chiefs

Mamelodi Sundowns

Orlando Pirates

SuperSport United

University of Pretoria

Gauteng Premiership football clubs

Football teams in South Africa tend to use multiple stadiums over the course of a season for their home games. The following table indicates the stadium used most often by the club for their home games ^[2]

Team	City	Home venue	Capacity
Ajax Cape Town	Cape Town	Cape Town Stadium	69,070
Bidvest Wits	Johannesburg	Bidvest Stadium	15,000
Bloemfontein Celtic	Bloemfontein	Free State Stadium	40,911
Chippa United	Port Elizabeth	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium	48,459
Free State Stars	Phuthaditjhaba	Charles Mopeli Stadium	50,000
Golden Arrows	Durban	Princess Magogo Stadium	12,000
Jomo Cosmos	Tembisa	Makhulong Stadium	20,000
Kaizer Chiefs	Johannesburg	FNB Stadium (Soccer City)	94,736
Mamelodi Sundowns	Pretoria	Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium	23,900
Maritzburg United	Pietermaritzburg	Harry Gwala Stadium	22,000
Mpumalanga Black Aces	Nelspruit	Mbombela Stadium	43,589
Orlando Pirates	Johannesburg	Orlando Stadium	40,000
Platinum Stars	Phokeng	Royal Bafokeng Stadium	44,530
Polokwane City	Polokwane	Peter Mokaba Stadium	45,000
SuperSport United	Pretoria	Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium	23,900
University of Pretoria	Pretoria	Tuks Stadium	8,000[3]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Supplier	Shirt sponsor
Ajax Cape Town	Roger De Sá[4]	Adidas[5]	Huawei[6]
Bidvest Wits	Gavin Hunt[7]	Kappa[8]	Bidvest[9]
Bloemfontein Celtic	Clinton Larsen	Kappa[10]	MTN[11]
Chippa United	Roger Sikhakhane	Nike[12]	Chippa Holdings
Free State Stars	Kinnah Phiri	Maxed[13]	Bonitas
Golden Arrows	Serame Letsoaka	Mille	Vacant
Jomo Cosmos	Jomo Sono	Puma	Vacant
Kaizer Chiefs	Steve Komphela	Nike[14]	Vodacom[15]
Mamelodi Sundowns	Pitso Mosimane[16]	Nike[17]	Ubuntu Botho
Maritzburg United	Mandla Ncikazi	Umbro[18]	Vacant
Mpumalanga Black Aces	Muhsin Ertuğral	Umbro[19]	ISPS Handa[20]
Orlando Pirates	Eric Tinkler	Adidas[21]	Vodacom[15]
Platinum Stars	Cavin Johnson	Acelli[22]	The Royal Marang Hotel
Polokwane City	Kosta Papić[23]	XCO	Vacant
SuperSport United	Gordon Igesund[24]	Kappa[25]	Engen Petroleum[26]
University of Pretoria	Sammy Troughton	Umbro[27]	WorkersLife[28]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Mamelodi Sundowns (C)	30	22	5	3	55	20	+35	71	Qualification for 2017 CAF Champions League
2	Bidvest Wits	30	17	6	7	44	24	+20	57
3	Platinum Stars	30	13	9	8	41	33	+8	47[a]	Qualification for 2017 CAF Confederation Cup[b]
4	Mpumalanga Black Aces	30	12	11	7	37	29	+8	47
5	Kaizer Chiefs	30	11	13	6	38	30	+8	46
6	Chippa United	30	13	6	11	42	39	+3	45
7	Orlando Pirates	30	11	8	11	38	30	+8	41
8	SuperSport United	30	10	10	10	36	38	−2	40	Qualification for 2017 CAF Confederation Cup[b]
9	Golden Arrows	30	11	7	12	28	35	−7	40
10	Ajax Cape Town	30	9	10	11	34	41	−7	37
11	Bloemfontein Celtic	30	8	12	10	30	26	+4	36
12	Free State Stars	30	9	8	13	28	37	−9	35
13	Polokwane City	30	7	10	13	31	44	−13	31
14	Maritzburg United	30	6	9	15	35	53	−18	27
15	University of Pretoria (R)	30	6	7	17	25	42	−17	25	Qualification for PSL Playoff Tournament
16	Jomo Cosmos (R)	30	6	7	17	20	41	−21	25	Relegation to National First Division

Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2016. Source: http://www.espnfc.com/south-african-premiership/2197/table
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) goals scored; 4) head-to-head points; 5) head-to-head goal difference; 6) head-to-head goals scored; 7) playoff
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Platinum Stars were docked 1 point for playing ineligible player Siyabonga Zulu.^[29]
2. SuperSport United qualified as winners of the 2015–16 Nedbank Cup to the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Mamelodi Sundowns	6	2	8	10	7	6	5	5	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Bidvest Wits	2	9	3	2	1	4	1	1	3	1	1	2	1	3	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Platinum Stars	6	11	5	4	2	1	2	2	1	4	5	5	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	3
Mpumalanga Black Aces	3	3	1	5	3	2	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4
Kaizer Chiefs	6	1	4	3	5	5	6	4	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	5
Chippa United	6	15	7	11	13	9	9	10	8	8	8	9	9	7	6	6	7	6	6	6	6	7	6	7	8	7	7	7	6	6
Orlando Pirates	14	6	12	9	10	11	11	13	12	10	11	13	10	11	11	13	12	7	9	7	7	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	7
SuperSport United	3	3	6	8	12	13	14	11	11	12	9	8	8	10	10	10	10	12	8	11	10	11	10	10	7	8	8	8	9	8
Golden Arrows	3	5	10	7	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	6	5	5	7	7	9	11	7	9	8	9	11	11	11	11	9	9	8	9
Ajax Cape Town	13	8	2	1	6	7	7	8	9	9	12	12	12	12	12	11	13	8	10	8	11	10	9	9	10	9	10	10	12	10
Bloemfontein Celtic	12	13	9	6	4	3	4	6	5	6	6	7	7	9	9	9	8	9	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	11
Free State Stars	14	16	16	14	9	10	10	9	10	11	13	10	11	8	8	8	6	10	12	10	9	8	8	8	9	10	11	11	11	12
Polokwane City	1	10	11	12	11	12	13	12	14	13	10	11	13	13	13	12	11	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Maritzburg United	6	14	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	15	14
Univ. of Pretoria	14	7	14	15	14	14	12	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14	15	14	14	14	15	15	16	15
Jomo Cosmos	6	12	13	13	15	15	15	15	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15	14	15	15	15	14	14	14	16

	Leader
	2017 CAF Champions League or 2017 CAF Confederation Cup
	Relegation to National First Division or Playoff Tournament

Updated to match(es) played on 21 May 2016. Source: Soccerway (in French)

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of 21 May 2016

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[30]
1	Collins Mbesuma	Black Aces	14
2	Thobani Mncwango	Polokwane	13
	Prince Nxumalo	Ajax	13
4	Khama Billiat	Mamelodi	12
5	Jeremy Brockie	SuperSport Utd	11
6	Leonardo Castro	Mamelodi	10
	Ndumiso Mabena	Platinum	10
8	Evans Rusike	Maritzburg Utd	9
9	Willard Katsande	Kaizer Chiefs	7
	James Keene	Wits	7
	Daine Klate	Wits	7
	Mpho Makola	Pirates	7
	Lerato Manzine	Chippa Utd	7
	Sibusiso Vilakazi	Wits	7

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Thobani Mncwango4	Polokwane City	SuperSport United	4-1[31]	16 January 2016
James Keene	Bidvest Wits	Polokwane City	5-0[32]	22 January 2016
Jeremy Brockie	SuperSport United	Jomo Cosmos	2-4[33]	27 February 2016
Lerato Manzini	Chippa United	Platinum Stars	4-1[34]	27 April 2016
Frank Mhango4	Golden Arrows	Mpumalanga Black Aces	2-4[35]	27 April 2016
Anthony Laffor	Mamelodi Sundowns	University of Pretoria	0-3[36]	4 May 2016

⁴ Player scored 4 goals.

See also

• CAF 5 Year Ranking