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.^{[citation needed]} 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

Season	2016–17
Dates	29 July 2016 – 31 May 2017
Champions	Anderlecht
Relegated	Westerlo
Champions League	Anderlecht Club Brugge
Europa League	Zulte Waregem Gent Oostende
Matches played	191
Goals scored	525 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorer	Łukasz Teodorczyk (22 goals)
← 2015–16 2017–18 → All statistics correct as of 29 January 2017.

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

Anderlecht

Club Brugge

Charleroi

Genk

Gent

Kortrijk

Standard Liège

Eupen

Lokeren

Mechelen

Oostende

Mouscron

Sint-Truiden

Westerlo

W.-Beveren

Zulte Waregem

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[a]
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[a]
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 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[a]	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[a]		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) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
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-finals		—	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: ^{[citation needed]}
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 for 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-finals		—	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: ^{[citation needed]}
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 for 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.

Genk	3–0	Sint-Truiden
Buffel 32' Boëtius 43' Samatta 55'	Pro League Soccerway

27 May 2017 (2017-05-27)

20:30 CEST

Luminus Arena, Genk

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.

Oostende	3–1	Genk
Akpala 27' Rozehnal 32' Jali 51'	Sporza	Schrijvers 45' (pen.)

31 May 2017 (2017-05-31)

20:30 CEST

Versluys Arena, Ostend

Referee: Lawrence Visser

Season statistics

Top scorers As of matches played on 20 May 2017.[28] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Henry Onyekuru Eupen 22 Łukasz Teodorczyk Anderlecht 22 3 Orlando Sá Standard 17 4 Mbaye Leye Zulte Waregem 16 Idriss Saadi Kortrijk 16 Jelle Vossen Club Brugge 16 7 Ishak Belfodil Standard 14 Pieter Gerkens Sint-Truiden 14 José Izquierdo Club Brugge 14 10 Youri Tielemans Anderlecht 13

Top assists As of matches played on 26 April 2017.[29] Rank Player Club Assists 1 Alejandro Pozuelo Genk 11 Youri Tielemans Anderlecht 11 Siebe Schrijvers Waasland-Beveren/Genk 11 4 Sofiane Hanni Anderlecht 10 Stef Peeters Sint-Truiden 10 6 Onur Kaya Zulte Waregem 9 7 Alexandru Chipciu Anderlecht 8 Mamadou Sylla Eupen 8 Fernando Canesin Oostende 8 10 Ruud Vormer Club Brugge 7

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 Flanders	Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem
3	East Flanders	Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren
2	Antwerp	Mechelen and Westerlo
	Hainaut	Charleroi and Mouscron
	Liège	Eupen and Standard Liège
	Limburg	Genk and Sint-Truiden
1	Brussels	Anderlecht
0	Flemish Brabant,  Walloon Brabant,  Namur and  Luxembourg	/

Attendances

The football clubs listed by average home league attendance:^[31]

Football club	Home average
Club Brugge	26,691
Standard de Liège	21,802
KAA Gent	19,807
RSC Anderlecht	18,333
KRC Genk	16,104
KV Mechelen	11,991
Zulte Waregem	9,578
Sporting Charleroi	9,547
KV Oostende	7,344
Sporting Lokeren	7,117
STVV	6,874
KV Kortrijk	6,248
KVC Westerlo	5,773
Waasland-Beveren	4,537
KAS Eupen	3,423
Royal Excel Mouscron	3,337