2016–17 Kilmarnock F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Kilmarnock's fourth season in the Scottish Premiership and their 24th consecutive appearance in the top flight of Scottish football. Kilmarnock also competed in the Scottish Premiership, Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup.

Kilmarnock

2016–17 season
Chairman	Billy Bowie
Manager	Lee Clark[Note 1] Lee McCulloch
Stadium	Rugby Park
Premiership	Eighth Place
Scottish Cup	Fourth Round
League Cup	Group Stage
Top goalscorer	League: Souleymane Coulibaly (8) All: Souleymane Coulibaly (11)
Highest home attendance	11,800 (vs Rangers, 26 August 2016)
Lowest home attendance	2,219 (vs Albion Rovers, 30 July 2016)
Average home league attendance	5,118
Home colours Away colours
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Overview

Kilmarnock finished eighth in the Scottish Premiership with 41 points.^[1] They failed to qualify from the group stages of the League Cup,^[2] and lost to Hamilton Academical in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup^[3]

Match results

Friendlies

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers
9 July 2016	Morpeth Town	H	4–2[4]	M. Smith, Dicker, Coulibaly, Burn
24 July 2016	Auchinleck Talbot	A[a]	3–1[5]	Coulibaly 15', McKenzie 20', Clark 64'
11 January 2017	Gateshead	A	1–1[6]	Roberts 36'
12 January 2017	Newcastle United U23s	A	3–1[7]	Frizzell 25', S. Boyd 35', Hawkshaw 90'

Notes

1. ^
   a: Played at Beechwood Park, Auchinleck.

Scottish Premiership

Main article: 2016–17 Scottish Premiership

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance	League position
6 August 2016	Motherwell	H	1–2[8]	M. Smith 81'	4,308	10th
13 August 2016	Hamilton Academical	A	2–1[9]	K. Boyd 71', Coulibaly 73'	2,228	6th
20 August 2016	Ross County	A	0–2[10]		3,263	10th
26 August 2016	Rangers	H	1–1[11]	K. Boyd 29'	11,800	8th
10 September 2016	Dundee	A	1–1[12]	Coulibaly 32'	5,111	10th
17 September 2016	Partick Thistle	H	2–2[13]	K. Boyd 17', Coulibaly 65'	4,169	8th
24 September 2016	Celtic	A	1–6[14]	Coulibaly 32'	53,532	10th
1 October 2016	Aberdeen	H	0–4[15]		4,592	11th
15 October 2016	St Johnstone	A	1–0[16]	S. Boyd 76'	2,930	9th
22 October 2016	Inverness Calednoian Thistle	A	1–1[17]	Coulibaly 8' (pen.)	2,591	8th
26 October 2016	Heart of Midlothian	H	2–0[18]	Coulibaly 22', S. Smith 72'	3,917	7th
29 October 2016	Rangers	A	0–3[19]		49,302	8th
5 November 2016	Hamilton Academical	H	0–0[20]		3,387	7th
18 November 2016	Celtic	H	0–1[21]		10,962	7th
26 November 2016	Aberdeen	A	Postponed
3 December 2016	Dundee	H	2–0[22]	McKenzie 22', Coulibaly 70'	3,615	6th
6 December 2016	Aberdeen	A	1–5[23]	McKenzie 77'	8,195	6th
10 December 2016	Motherwell	A	0–0[24]		3,684	6th
17 December 2016	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	H	1–1[25]	Coulibaly 73'	3,294	7th
23 December 2016	St Johnstone	H	0–1[26]		3,056	8th
27 December 2016	Heart of Midlothian	A	0–4[27]		16,696	8th
31 December 2016	Partick Thistle	H	0–0[28]		3,584	10th
28 January 2017	Ross County	H	3–2[29]	K. Boyd 1', Dicker 61', Longstaff 90'	3,207	8th
1 February 2017	Dundee	A	Postponed
4 February 2017	Hamilton Academical	A	1–1[30]	Longstaff 7'	2,159	8th
11 February 2017	Dundee	A	1–1[31]	K. Boyd 9'	4,708	6th
19 February 2017	Aberdeen	H	1–2[32]	McKenzie 41'	3,972	8th
25 February 2017	St Johnstone	A	2–0[33]	McKenzie 11', Sammon 71'	2,933	8th
4 March 2017	Motherwell	H	1–2[34]	K. Boyd 32'	4,726	8th
11 March 2017	Ross County	A	2–1[35]	Sammon 46', K. Boyd 85'	3,380	7th
18 March 2017	Partick Thistle	H	1–1[36]	Sammon 87'	4,519	7th
1 April 2017	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	A	1–1[37]	K. Boyd 87' (pen.)	2,780	7th
5 April 2017	Rangers	H	0–0[38]		9,548	7th
8 April 2017	Celtic	A	1–3[39]	Jones 65'	57,679	7th
14 April 2017	Heart of Midlothian	H	0–0[40]		4,110	7th
29 April 2017	Hamilton Academical	A	2–0[41]	Sammon 11', Jones 23'	2,482	7th
6 May 2017	Dundee	H	0–1[42]		4,040	8th
13 May 2017	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	H	2–1[43]	Longstaff 17', Jones 57'	3,137	7th
16 May 2017	Motherwell	A	1–3[44]	Frizzell 17'	5,246	8th
20 May 2017	Ross County	H	1–2[45]	Sammon 10'(pen.)	3,951	8th

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2016–17 Scottish Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
21 January 2017	Fourth round	Hamilton Academical	H	0–1[46]		2,944

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2016–17 Scottish League Cup

Group Stage

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
16 July 2016	Group stage	Clyde	A	2–1[47]	Coulibaly 69', Boyle 76'	1,303
23 July 2016	Group stage	Greenock Morton	H	0–2[48]		3,020
26 July 2016	Group stage	Berwick Rangers	A	3–2[49]	Coulibaly 65', 70', McKenzie 85'	609
30 July 2016	Group stage	Albion Rovers	H	0–0 (3–5p)		2,219

Squad statistics

During the 2016–17 season, Kilmarnock used thirty-seven different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

No.	Pos.	Name	League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Jamie MacDonald	24	0	0	0	2	0	26	0	1	0
2	DF	Josh Webb	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	1	0
3	DF	Steven Smith	26	1	1	0	3	0	30	1	5	0
4	DF	Miles Addison	11	0	0	0	4	0	15	0	2	0
5	DF	Karleigh Osborne	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
5	DF	Will Boyle	11	0	0	0	3	1	14	1	6	0
6	MF	Martin Smith	10	1	0	0	2	0	12	1	0	0
7	MF	Rory McKenzie	28	4	1	0	3	1	32	5	6	0
8	MF	Gary Dicker	36	1	1	0	4	0	41	1	11	0
9	FW	Kris Boyd	27	8	1	0	1	0	29	8	2	0
10	FW	Greg Kiltie	11	0	0	0	2	0	13	0	0	0
11	MF	Jordan Jones	37	3	1	0	4	0	42	3	1	0
12	FW	Nathan Tyson	17	0	0	0	1	0	18	0	1	0
12	GK	Oliver Davies	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
13	FW	Josh Umerah	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0
14	DF	Callum McFadzean	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	0
16	MF	Mark Waddington	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
16	DF	Scott Boyd	18	1	1	0	0	0	19	1	4	0
17	DF	Jonny Burn	8	0	0	0	2	0	10	0	2	0
17	GK	Freddie Woodman	14	0	1	0	0	0	15	0	0	0
18	MF	Charlee Adams	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	2	0
18	MF	Sean Longstaff	16	3	1	0	0	0	17	3	1	0
19	FW	Souleymane Coulibaly	21	8	1	0	4	3	26	11	2	0
19	FW	Conor Sammon	15	5	0	0	0	0	15	5	1	0
20	FW	Flo Bojaj	2	0	0	0	3	0	5	0	0	0
20	DF	Kristoffer Ajer	16	0	1	0	0	0	17	0	2	0
21	MF	Adam Frizzell	15	1	0	0	1	0	16	1	0	0
22	DF	Jamie Cobain	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
24	DF	Greg Taylor	34	0	1	0	3	0	38	0	10	0
25	MF	George Green	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	0
25	FW	Callum Roberts	10	0	1	0	0	0	11	0	1	0
27	DF	Luke Hendrie	32	0	1	0	0	0	33	0	8	0
28	FW	Josh Magennis	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	0	0
33	MF	Dean Hawkshaw	15	0	0	0	0	0	15	0	2	0
35	FW	Lewis Morrison	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
36	MF	Iain Wilson	20	0	0	0	0	0	20	0	4	0
40	FW	Will Graham	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
44	FW	Innes Cameron	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Source:^[50]

Club statistics

Competition Overview

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Premiership	6 August 2016	20 May 2017	Matchday 1	Matchday 38	38	9	14	15	36	56	−20	023.68
Scottish Cup	21 January 2017	21 January 2017	Fourth round	Fourth round	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
League Cup	16 July 2017	30 July 2017	Group stage	Group stage	4	2	1	1	5	5	+0	050.00
Total					43	11	15	17	41	62	−21	025.58

Source: Competitions

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
6	Partick Thistle	38	10	12	16	38	54	−16	42
7	Ross County	38	11	13	14	48	58	−10	46
8	Kilmarnock	38	9	14	15	36	56	−20	41
9	Motherwell	38	10	8	20	46	69	−23	38
10	Dundee	38	10	7	21	38	62	−24	37

Source: Scottish Premiership, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification and second stage group allocation).^[51]
Notes:

1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

League cup table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morton (Q)	4	3	1	0	0	5	0	+5	11	Qualification for the Second Round
2	Kilmarnock	4	2	0	1	1	5	5	0	7
3	Clyde	4	1	1	0	2	4	5	−1	5
4	Albion Rovers	4	0	2	1	1	1	2	−1	5
5	Berwick Rangers	4	0	0	2	2	3	6	−3	2

Source: SPFL
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated

Player transfers

Main articles: List of Scottish football transfers summer 2016 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2016–17

Transfers in Date Position Name Previous Club Fee Ref. 24 June 2016 DF Josh Webb Aston Villa Free [52] MF Jordan Jones Middlesbrough Free [52] DF Jamie Cobain Newcastle United Free [52] FW Souleymane Coulibaly Peterborough United Free [52] DF Callum McFadzean Sheffield United Free [52] MF Martin Smith Sunderland Free [52] FW Flo Bojaj Huddersfield Town Loan [52] DF Will Boyle Loan [52] DF Jonny Burn Middlesbrough Loan [52] MF Mark Waddington Stoke City Loan [52] GK Oliver Davies Swansea City Loan [52] 13 August 2016 MF George Green Burnley Loan [53] 19 August 2016 MF Charlee Adams Birmingham City Loan [54] DF Luke Hendrie Burnley Loan [54] DF Dapo Kayode Dinamo București Free [54] 31 August 2016 DF Scott Boyd Ross County Loan [55] 12 September 2016 FW Nathan Tyson Free Agent Free [56] 9 January 2017 MF Sean Longstaff Newcastle United Loan [57] FW Callum Roberts Loan [57] GK Freddie Woodman Loan [57] 16 January 2017 DF Karleigh Osborne Plymouth Argyle Free [58] 20 January 2017 DF Kristoffer Ajer Celtic Loan [59] 31 January 2017 FW Josh Umerah Charlton Athletic Loan [60] FW Conor Sammon Heart of Midlothian Loan [60] DF Scott Boyd Ross County Free [60]

Transfers out Date Position Name Subsequent Club Fee Ref 23 May 2016 DF Mark Connolly Crawley Town Free [61] DF Lee Ashcroft Dunfermline Athletic Free [61] MF Alex Henshall Margate Free [61] GK Conor Brennan Raith Rovers Free [61] MF Chris Johnston Free [61] MF Julien Faubert Free Agent Released [61] MF Aaron Splaine Free Agent Released [61] 8 June 2016 MF Mark O'Hara Dundee Free [62] 16 June 2016 DF David Syme Partick Thistle Free [63] 18 June 2016 DF Kevin McHattie Raith Rovers Free [64] 1 July 2016 FW Tope Obadeyi Dundee United Free [65] 7 July 2016 MF Craig Slater Colchester United Undisclosed [66] 15 July 2016 FW Dale Carrick Livingston Free [67] 18 July 2016 MF Kallum Higginbotham Dunfermline Athletic Free [68] 11 August 2016 FW Josh Magennis Charlton Athletic Undisclosed [69] 30 August 2016 DF Conrad Balatoni Ayr United Free [70] 13 January 2017 MF Jack Whittaker Stranraer Loan [71] 24 January 2017 FW Souleymane Coulibaly Al Ahly Undisclosed [72] 30 January 2017 GK Devlin McKay Berwick Rangers Loan [73] 17 March 2017 MF Callum McFadzean Alfreton Town Free [74] 23 March 2017 DF Josh Webb Kidderminster Harriers Free [75]

Notes

1. ^
   Note 1: Clark was appointed manager of Bury on 15 February 2016.^[76] McCulloch and Peter Leven were put in temporary charge of the first team before McCulloch was appointed Kilmarnock manager on a permanent basis on 5 June 2017.^[77]