2016–17 Eredivisie

This article is about the men's competition. For the women's competition, see 2016–17 Eredivisie (women).

The 2016–17 Eredivisie season was the 61st season of the top-tier Dutch League Eredivisie since its establishment in 1956. The fixtures for this season were announced on 14 June 2016.^[4] PSV were the defending champions after winning the title for a record 23rd time.

Eredivisie

Season	2016–17
Dates	5 August 2016 – 7 May 2017
Champions	Feyenoord (15th title)
Relegated	NEC Go Ahead Eagles
Champions League	Feyenoord Ajax
Europa League	PSV Vitesse FC Utrecht
Matches played	306
Goals scored	884 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorer	Nicolai Jørgensen (21 goals)[1]
Biggest home win	Feyenoord 8–0 Go Ahead Eagles (5 April 2017)
Biggest away win	Groningen 0–5 Feyenoord (7 August 2016)
Highest scoring	Feyenoord 8–0 Go Ahead Eagles (5 April 2017) Twente 3–5 Groningen (15 May 2017)
Longest winning run	10 matches[2] Feyenoord
Longest unbeaten run	17 matches[2] PSV
Longest winless run	12 matches[2] Excelsior
Longest losing run	7 matches[2] NEC
Highest attendance	51,998[3] Ajax 1–1 PSV (18 December 2016)
Lowest attendance	3,200[3] Excelsior 2–0 Groningen (13 August 2016)
Total attendance	5,841,335[3]
Average attendance	19,089[3]
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

At the end of the season, Feyenoord became the title-holders for a record 15th time and the first since the 1998–99 season.

Teams

A total of 18 teams took part in the league: The best fifteen teams from the 2015–16 season, two promotion/relegation playoff winners and the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie champions.

Sparta Rotterdam, the champion of the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie, returned to the Eredivisie after spending six seasons in the Eerste Divisie, whereas play-off winner Go Ahead Eagles returned to the Eredivisie after just one season. They replaced relegated teams Cambuur and De Graafschap.

As a result of financial maladministration, the KNVB had originally taken FC Twente's license, causing them to relegate to the 2016-17 Eerste Divisie. However, FC Twente successfully appealed this decision and was therefore allowed to stay in the league.^[5]

ADO

Ajax

AZ

GA Eagles

Groningen

Heerenveen

Heracles

NEC

PEC

PSV

Roda JC

Rotterdam

Twente

Utrecht

Vitesse

Willem II

Rotterdam teams

Excelsior
Feyenoord
Sparta

Location of teams in Eredivisie 2016–17

Excelsior

Feyenoord

Sparta

Rotterdam Eredivisie football clubs

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
ADO Den Haag	The Hague	Kyocera Stadion	15,000
Ajax	Amsterdam	Amsterdam ArenA	53,490
AZ	Alkmaar	AFAS Stadion	17,023
Excelsior	Rotterdam	Stadion Woudestein	4,400
Feyenoord	Rotterdam	De Kuip	51,177
Go Ahead Eagles	Deventer	Adelaarshorst	10,400
Groningen	Groningen	Noordlease Stadion	22,550
Heerenveen	Heerenveen	Abe Lenstra Stadion	26,100
Heracles Almelo	Almelo	Polman Stadion	13,500
NEC	Nijmegen	Stadion de Goffert	12,500
PEC Zwolle	Zwolle	MAC³PARK Stadion	13,250
PSV	Eindhoven	Philips Stadion	36,500
Roda JC	Kerkrade	Parkstad Limburg Stadion	19,979
Sparta Rotterdam	Rotterdam	Het Kasteel	11,026
Twente	Enschede	De Grolsch Veste	30,205
Utrecht	Utrecht	Stadion Galgenwaard	23,750
Vitesse	Arnhem	GelreDome	25,500
Willem II	Tilburg	Koning Willem II Stadion	14,500

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
ADO Den Haag	Alfons Groenendijk	Erreà	Basic-Fit Fitness
Ajax	Peter Bosz	Adidas	Ziggo
AZ	John van den Brom	Under Armour	AFAS Software
Excelsior	Mitchell van der Gaag	Quick	DSW Zorgverzekeraar
Feyenoord	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	Adidas	Opel
Go Ahead Eagles	Robert Maaskant	Hummel	Drukwerkdeal.nl
Groningen	Ernest Faber	Robey	Essent
Heerenveen	Jurgen Streppel	Jako	GroenLeven
Heracles	John Stegeman	Acerbis	Asito
NEC	Ron de Groot	Patrick	EnergieFlex
PEC Zwolle	Ron Jans	Robey	Molecaten
PSV	Phillip Cocu	Umbro	Energiedirect.nl
Roda JC	Giannis Anastasiou	Robey	KLG Europe
Sparta Rotterdam	Alex Pastoor	Robey	Axidus
Twente	René Hake	Sondico	Pure Energie
Utrecht	Erik ten Hag	Hummel	Zorg van de zaak
Vitesse	Henk Fraser	Macron	Truphone
Willem II	Erwin van de Looi	Robey	Tricorp

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Groningen	Erwin van de Looi	End of contract	1 July 2016[6]	Pre-season	Ernest Faber	1 July 2016[7]
NEC	Ernest Faber	Signed by Groningen	1 July 2016		Peter Hyballa	1 July 2016[8]
Heerenveen	Foppe de Haan	End of contract	1 July 2016[9]		Jurgen Streppel	1 July 2016[10]
Willem II	Jurgen Streppel	Signed by Heerenveen	1 July 2016		Erwin van de Looi	1 July 2016
Vitesse	Rob Maas	Resigned	1 July 2016[11]		Henk Fraser	1 July 2016[12]
Roda JC	Darije Kalezić	Sacked	1 July 2016[13]		Giannis Anastasiou	1 July 2016[14]
Ajax	Frank de Boer	Resigned	1 July 2016[15]		Peter Bosz	1 July 2016[16]
Excelsior	Alfons Groenendijk	Mutual consent	1 July 2016[17]		Mitchell van der Gaag	1 July 2016[18]
ADO Den Haag	Henk Fraser	Signed by Vitesse	1 July 2016		Željko Petrović	1 July 2016[19]
ADO Den Haag	Željko Petrović	Mutual consent	7 February 2017[20]	16th	Alfons Groenendijk	8 February 2017[21]
Go Ahead Eagles	Hans de Koning	Sacked	22 March 2017[22]	18th	Robert Maaskant	25 March 2017[23]
NEC	Peter Hyballa	Sacked	24 April 2017[24]	17th	Ron de Groot	25 April 2017
Roda JC	Giannis Anastasiou	Sacked	23 May 2017[25]	17th	Huub Stevens	23 May 2017[25]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Feyenoord (C)	34	26	4	4	86	25	+61	82	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Ajax	34	25	6	3	79	23	+56	81	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	PSV Eindhoven	34	22	10	2	68	23	+45	76	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4	Utrecht (O)	34	18	8	8	54	38	+16	62	Qualification for the European competition play-offs[a]
5	Vitesse	34	15	6	13	51	40	+11	51	Qualification for the Europa League group stage[b]
6	AZ	34	12	13	9	56	52	+4	49	Qualification for the European competition play-offs[a]
7	Twente[c]	34	12	9	13	48	50	−2	45
8	Groningen	34	10	13	11	55	51	+4	43	Qualification for the European competition play-offs[a]
9	Heerenveen	34	12	7	15	54	53	+1	43
10	Heracles Almelo	34	12	7	15	53	55	−2	43
11	ADO Den Haag	34	11	5	18	37	59	−22	38
12	Excelsior	34	9	10	15	43	60	−17	37
13	Willem II	34	9	9	16	29	44	−15	36
14	PEC Zwolle	34	9	8	17	39	67	−28	35
15	Sparta Rotterdam	34	9	7	18	42	61	−19	34
16	NEC (R)	34	9	7	18	32	59	−27	34	Qualification for the Relegation play-offs
17	Roda JC Kerkrade (O)	34	7	12	15	26	51	−25	33
18	Go Ahead Eagles (R)	34	6	5	23	32	73	−41	23	Relegation to Eerste Divisie

Source: NUsport (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-off (only for deciding champion and relegation); 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Draw. (Note: Criteria 5-8 is only used if deciding Europa League play-off places)^[27]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Four teams played for a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.
2. Vitesse qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2016–17 KNVB Cup.
3. Twente was excluded from European football for 3 years on 15 December 2015.^[26]

Results

Home \ Away	ADO	AJX	AZ	EXC	FEY	GAE	GRO	HRV	HRC	NEC	PEC	PSV	RJC	SPA	TWE	UTR	VIT	WIL
ADO Den Haag		0–2	0–1	4–1	0–1	3–0	4–3	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–1	4–1	1–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	1–0
Ajax	3–0		4–1	1–0	2–1	4–0	2–0	5–1	4–1	5–0	5–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	3–0	3–2	1–0	1–2
AZ	4–0	2–2		1–1	0–4	2–2	0–0	2–2	5–1	2–0	1–1	2–4	1–1	1–1	2–1	2–3	2–2	2–0
Excelsior	1–2	1–1	3–3		3–0	1–1	2–0	4–1	3–1	2–2	0–2	1–3	0–1	3–2	1–1	1–3	1–0	0–2
Feyenoord	3–1	1–1	5–2	4–1		8–0	2–0	2–2	3–1	4–0	3–0	2–1	5–0	6–1	2–0	2–0	3–1	1–0
Go Ahead Eagles	3–1	0–3	1–3	3–0	1–0		2–3	1–3	1–4	2–2	1–3	1–3	2–0	1–3	0–2	0–1	1–3	0–1
Groningen	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–5	1–1		0–3	0–0	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	3–4	2–3	1–1	1–1
Heerenveen	2–0	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	2–2	0–0		3–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–2	1–1	1–0
Heracles Almelo	4–0	0–2	1–2	4–0	0–1	2–1	1–4	4–1		2–0	3–0	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	0–1	3–1
NEC	3–0	1–5	2–1	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–1		1–1	0–4	2–0	0–1	3–2	0–3	1–1	0–0
PEC Zwolle	2–1	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–2	3–1	0–4	2–1	1–2	2–0		0–4	0–0	0–3	1–2	1–1	3–1	0–0
PSV Eindhoven	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	4–3	1–1	3–1	4–1		4–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	5–0
Roda JC Kerkrade	1–1	0–2	1–1	4–0	0–2	1–0	3–1	0–3	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–0		3–1	0–3	0–0	0–1	1–0
Sparta Rotterdam	0–1	1–3	1–1	2–3	1–0	1–0	2–2	3–1	3–1	2–0	2–3	0–2	2–2		1–0	1–2	0–1	2–2
Twente	4–1	1–0	1–2	1–2	0–2	1–2	3–5	1–0	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–2	0–0	3–1		1–1	2–1	2–1
Utrecht	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–1	3–3	3–0	1–5	1–0	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0		1–0	2–0
Vitesse	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	0–2	2–0	2–1	4–2	1–2	2–1	3–1	0–2	3–0	5–0	3–1	1–1		0–2
Willem II	1–2	1–3	1–1	1–1	0–2	2–0	2–1	2–1	1–3	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	3–2	0–0	0–1	1–4

Source: Eredivisie (in Dutch)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[1]
1	Nicolai Jørgensen	Feyenoord	21
2	Reza Ghoochannejhad	Heerenveen	20
	Ricky van Wolfswinkel	Vitesse
4	Samuel Armenteros	Heracles	19
5	Enes Ünal	Twente	18
6	Mimoun Mahi	Groningen	17
7	Kasper Dolberg	Ajax	16
8	Davy Klaassen	Ajax	14
	Jens Toornstra	Feyenoord
10	Sébastien Haller	Utrecht	13
	Wout Weghorst	AZ

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Eljero Elia	Feyenoord	Groningen	5–0	7 August 2016
Enes Ünal	Twente	Groningen	4–3	21 August 2016
Kasper Dolberg	Ajax	NEC	5–0	20 November 2016
Reza Ghoochannejhad	Heerenveen	PSV	3–4	22 January 2017
Nicolai Jørgensen	Feyenoord	AZ	5–2	12 March 2017
Jens Toornstra	Feyenoord	Go Ahead Eagles	8–0	5 April 2017
Ricky van Wolfswinkel	Vitesse	Heerenveen	4–2	8 April 2017
Dirk Kuyt	Feyenoord	Heracles	3–1	14 May 2017

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists[1]
1	Hakim Ziyech	Twente / Ajax	12
2	Nicolai Jørgensen	Feyenoord	11
	Sam Larsson	Heerenveen
4	Milot Rashica	Vitesse	10
	Andrés Guardado	PSV
6	Davy Klaassen	Ajax	9
	Jens Toornstra	Feyenoord

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[1]
1	Brad Jones	Feyenoord	17
2	André Onana	Ajax	15
3	Jeroen Zoet	PSV	14
4	David Jensen	Utrecht	10
	Kostas Lamprou	Willem II

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 10^[28]
  • Denzel Dumfries (Sparta)
  • Danny Holla (PEC Zwolle)
• Most red cards: 3^[28]
  • Juninho Bacuna (Groningen)

Play-offs

European competition

Four teams played for a spot in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

	Semi-finals						Final
	Groningen	1	1	2
	AZ	4	4	8
							AZ	3	0	3
							Utrecht (p)	0	3	3
	Heerenveen	1	1	2
	Utrecht	3	2	5

Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

Ten teams, two (NEC and Roda JC, as 16th- and 17th-placed teams) from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, played for two spots in the 2017–18 Eredivisie, the remaining eight teams play in the 2017–18 Eerste Divisie.

	First round						Second round						Third round
							MVV	1	2	3
							Cambuur	1	1	2
													MVV	0	0	0
													Roda JC	0	1	1
							Helmond Sport	0	1	1
							Roda JC	1	1	2
	Helmond Sport	4	2	6
	Almere City	2	0	2
							Volendam	2	0	2
							NAC	2	2	4
													NAC	1	4	5
													NEC	0	1	1
							Emmen	1	0	1
							NEC	3	1	4
	RKC	1	1	2
	Emmen	5	0	5

Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of away goals rule, (e) = Wins after extra time in second leg, (p) = Wins after penalty shoot-out.

Attendances

Ajax drew the highest average home attendance in the 2016-17 edition of the Eredivisie.

#	Football club	Home games	Average attendance[29]
1	AFC Ajax	17	49,551
2	Feyenoord	17	47,500
3	PSV	17	33,724
4	FC Twente	17	25,500
5	sc Heerenveen	17	22,109
6	FC Groningen	17	19,527
7	FC Utrecht	17	18,276
8	Vitesse	17	15,907
9	AZ	17	14,855
10	Roda JC	17	13,857
11	PEC Zwolle	17	12,855
12	Willem II	17	12,451
13	NEC	17	11,357
14	ADO Den Haag	17	11,343
15	Heracles Almelo	17	11,109
16	Sparta Rotterdam	17	10,249
17	Go Ahead Eagles	17	9,378
18	Excelsior	17	4,069