2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga

The 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga (also known as the Prva liga Telekom Slovenije for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th edition of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its establishment in 1991. The season began on 16 July 2016 and ended on 27 May 2017.^[3] The official fixture schedule was released on 24 June 2016.^[4]

Slovenian PrvaLiga

Season	2016–17
Dates	16 July 2016 – 27 May 2017
Champions	Maribor (14th title)
Relegated	Radomlje Koper
Champions League	Maribor
Europa League	Gorica Olimpija Domžale (cup winners)
Matches	180
Goals	463 (2.57 per match)
Best Player	Dare Vršič[1][2]
Top goalscorer	John Mary (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Domžale 5–0 Krško Domžale 5–0 Gorica
Biggest away win	Radomlje 0–5 Domžale
Highest scoring	Domžale 5–3 Krško
Longest winning run	5 matches Olimpija and Maribor
Longest unbeaten run	14 matches Maribor
Longest winless run	18 matches Radomlje
Longest losing run	6 matches Radomlje
Highest attendance	13,770 Olimpija 1–3 Maribor
Lowest attendance	100 Aluminij 0–0 Gorica
Total attendance	248,750
Average attendance	1,381
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Competition format

Each team played 36 matches (18 home and 18 away). Teams played four matches against each other (2 home and 2 away).^[5]

Teams

Aluminij

Celje

Domžale

Gorica

Koper

Krško

Maribor

Olimpija

Radomlje

Rudar

Location of teams in the 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of ten teams contested the league, including eight from the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga and two promoted from the 2015–16 Slovenian Second League. Radomlje won direct promotion as winners of the 2015–16 Slovenian Second League. They replaced Krka in the top division, who placed at the bottom of the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga table. This was the second season for Radomlje in top flight, having previously been a member during the 2014–15 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.

The PrvaLiga play-off for the final spot in the top division was played between Zavrč and Aluminij. Zavrč won the play-off fixture with the score 4–3 on aggregate, but the club was unsuccessful in obtaining a licence to play in the top division for the next season, due to financial reasons.^[6][7] The Football Association of Slovenia then invited Aluminij to take their spot and the side from Kidričevo accepted.^[8][9][10] Aluminij had previously played in the PrvaLiga during the 2012–13 season.

Stadiums and locations

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity1	2015–16 position
Aluminij	Kidričevo	Aluminij Sports Park	532	2. SNL, 2nd
Celje	Celje	Arena Petrol	13,059	5th
Domžale	Domžale	Domžale Sports Park	3,100	3rd
Gorica	Nova Gorica	Nova Gorica Sports Park	3,100	4th
Koper	Koper	Bonifika	4,047	8th
Krško	Krško	Matija Gubec	1,470	6th
Maribor	Maribor	Ljudski vrt	12,702	Runners-up
Olimpija Ljubljana	Ljubljana	Stožice	16,038	Champions
Radomlje	Radomlje	Domžale Sports Park2	3,100	2. SNL, 1st
Rudar Velenje	Velenje	Ob Jezeru	1,864	7th

¹Seating capacity only. Some stadiums also have standing areas.
²Radomlje played its home games in Domžale, because their home venue did not meet PrvaLiga stadium criteria.

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer[11]	Shirt sponsor
Aluminij	Slobodan Grubor	Matic Vrbanec	Zeus Sport	Talum
Celje	Igor Jovićević	Jure Travner	Legea	Cinkarna
Domžale	Simon Rožman	Luka Žinko	Joma	Tark
Gorica	Miran Srebrnič	Alen Jogan	Erreà	GEN-I
Koper	Igor Pamić	Toni Datković	Nike	Port of Koper
Krško	Rok Zorko	Marko Zalokar	Erima	GEN, Kostak
Maribor	Darko Milanič	Marcos Tavares	Adidas	Zavarovalnica Sava, Nova KBM, Radio City
Olimpija Ljubljana	Safet Hadžić	Branko Ilić	Nike	Telekom Slovenije
Radomlje	Adnan Zildžović	Igor Barukčič	Joma	Kalcer
Rudar Velenje	Vanja Radinović	David Kašnik	Joma	None

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Rudar Velenje	Ramiz Smajlović (interim)	15 June 2016	Pre-season	Milovan Rajevac	15 June 2016[12][13]
Rudar Velenje	Milovan Rajevac	27 June 2016[14][15]	Pre-season	Slobodan Krčmarević	30 June 2016[16][17]
Radomlje	Dejan Djuranović	16 August 2016[18][19]	10th	Jani Žilnik	16 August 2016[18][19]
Olimpija Ljubljana	Rodolfo Vanoli	31 August 2016[20][21]	2nd	Luka Elsner	2 September 2016[22][23]
Domžale	Luka Elsner	2 September 2016[22][23]	5th	Simon Rožman	2 September 2016[23][24]
Koper	Milan Obradović	26 September 2016[25][26]	5th	Oliver Bogatinov (interim)	28 September 2016[27]
Koper	Oliver Bogatinov	5 October 2016[28][29]	6th	Igor Pamić	5 October 2016[28][29]
Celje	Robert Pevnik	6 October 2016[30][31]	5th	Igor Jovićević	6 October 2016[30][31]
Radomlje	Jani Žilnik	14 November 2016[32][33]	10th	David McDonough (interim)	14 November 2016[32][33]
Rudar Velenje	Slobodan Krčmarević	1 December 2016[34][35]	6th	Branko Čavić (interim)	1 December 2016[34][35]
Aluminij	Bojan Špehonja	21 December 2016[36][37]	9th	Slobodan Grubor	3 January 2017[38][39]
Radomlje	David McDonough	4 January 2017[40][41]	10th	Robert Pevnik	4 January 2017[40][41]
Rudar Velenje	Branko Čavić	9 January 2017[42][43]	6th	Vanja Radinović	9 January 2017[42][43]
Radomlje	Robert Pevnik	20 February 2017[44][45]	10th	Adnan Zildžović	20 February 2017[44][45]
Olimpija Ljubljana	Luka Elsner	9 March 2017[46][47]	2nd	Marijan Pušnik	9 March 2017[46][47]
Krško	Tomaž Petrovič	13 March 2017[48][49]	8th	Rok Zorko	13 March 2017[48][49]
Olimpija Ljubljana	Marijan Pušnik	3 April 2017[50][51]	3rd	Safet Hadžić	4 April 2017[52][53]

Transfers

Main article: List of Slovenian football transfers summer 2016

Main article: List of Slovenian football transfers winter 2016–17

League table

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Maribor (C)	36	21	10	5	63	30	+33	73	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2	Gorica	36	16	12	8	48	39	+9	60[a]	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
3	Olimpija Ljubljana	36	17	9	10	49	35	+14	60[a]
4	Domžale	36	16	8	12	63	45	+18	56
5	Celje	36	15	10	11	48	39	+9	55
6	Koper (R)	36	12	14	10	43	40	+3	50	Relegation to fourth tier[c]
7	Rudar Velenje	36	10	11	15	49	53	−4	41
8	Krško	36	8	15	13	39	50	−11	39
9	Aluminij	36	9	11	16	38	52	−14	38
10	Radomlje (R)	36	1	10	25	23	80	−57	13	Relegation to Slovenian Second League

Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Away goals scored; 8) Fairplay ranking; 9) Draw.^[55]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Gorica ahead of Olimpija on head-to-head record: Olimpija–Gorica 1–0, Gorica–Olimpija 1–1, Olimpija–Gorica 1–2, Gorica–Olimpija 1–0
2. Domžale qualified for Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Slovenian Football Cup.
3. Koper did not get a competition licence and was thus relegated to the fourth division.^[54]

Positions by round

Key

Final round before the winter break

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	31	32	33	34	35	36
Maribor	3	1	2	3	4	5	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Gorica	2	4	4	5	3	2	1	2	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	5	5	4	4	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	2
Olimpija	4	2	1	1	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	2	3	3	2	2	3	3
Domžale	1	3	5	2	1	3	5	5	5	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	3	4	4
Celje	7	5	3	4	5	8	9	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	5	5	5
Koper	8	6	7	6	7	4	3	3	4	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	6	6	6
Rudar	6	8	6	8	6	9	6	6	7	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7
Krško	5	7	8	7	8	6	7	8	8	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	8	8	8
Aluminij	9	9	9	9	9	7	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	9	9	9
Radomlje	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Source: PrvaLiga official website

Leader / Qualification to UEFA Champions League Qualification to UEFA Europa League Relegation play-off Relegation to 2. SNL

Results

First half of the season Home \ Away ALU CEL DOM GOR KOP KRŠ MAR OLI RAD RUD Aluminij 2–4 0–4 0–0 0–0 3–0 0–0 0–3 2–1 0–3 Celje 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–3 0–3 0–1 0–0 4–0 Domžale 2–0 2–1 5–0 2–0 5–0 2–2 1–3 2–0 3–1 Gorica 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–3 Koper 1–0 2–1 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–4 Krško 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 Maribor 0–2 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 4–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 Olimpija 3–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–1 1–3 2–0 0–2 Radomlje 2–2 0–3 0–5 2–4 1–3 2–2 0–3 0–2 2–2 Rudar 0–0 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away ALU CEL DOM GOR KOP KRŠ MAR OLI RAD RUD Aluminij 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 3–1 2–1 3–1 3–0 Celje 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 Domžale 2–1 1–4 1–1 0–1 5–3 3–2 1–0 0–2 3–0 Gorica 3–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 0–0 2–4 1–0 1–1 2–1 Koper 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–2 2–2 1–1 4–1 1–0 Krško 1–1 2–3 0–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 Maribor 4–1 0–2 1–0 2–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 Olimpija 1–0 2–1 3–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–4 Radomlje 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–4 0–2 1–1 1–4 1–5 Rudar 2–2 1–2 1–1 1–3 2–2 2–2 0–1 4–2 0–0 Source: PrvaLiga (in Slovene) Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

PrvaLiga play-off

The two-legged play-off between Aluminij, the ninth-placed team in PrvaLiga and Ankaran Hrvatini, the third-placed team in the 2. SNL, should have been played in June 2017. However, on 1 June 2017, the Football Association of Slovenia announced that FC Koper did not obtain a competition licence for PrvaLiga. Therefore, the play-offs were not held and both Aluminij and Ankaran Hrvatini secured a place in the 2017–18 PrvaLiga season.^[54][56]

Season statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Player Team Goals 1 John Mary Rudar Velenje 17 2 Dominik Glavina Rudar Velenje 16 3 Luka Zahović Maribor 15 Dalibor Volaš Celje 5 Miran Burgič Gorica 14 6 Filip Dangubić Krško 13 7 Milivoje Novaković Maribor 11 8 Leon Benko Olimpija 10 9 Marcos Tavares Maribor 9 Dare Vršič Maribor Žiga Škoflek Aluminij Source: PrvaLiga official website

Top assists Rank Player Team Assists 1 Dare Vršič Maribor 11 2 Matic Vrbanec Aluminij 10 3 Rifet Kapić Gorica 7 Jan Repas Domžale Denis Klinar Olimpija 6 Matej Podlogar Celje 6 Jure Balkovec Domžale Žan Majer Domžale Bojan Vručina Rudar Filip Dangubić Krško Senijad Ibričić Koper Source: PrvaLiga official website

Own goals

Player	For	Against	Date	Round	Report
Miha Blažič	Domžale	Maribor	31 July 2016	3	Report
Marko Šuler	Maribor	Gorica	13 August 2016	5	Report
Janez Pišek	Celje	Maribor	28 August 2016	7	Report
Klemen Šturm	Krško	Olimpija	2 October 2016	12	Report
Milan Kocić	Aluminij	Domžale	20 November 2016	17	Report
Aleksandar Zukić	Radomlje	Olimpija	4 December 2016	20	Report
Elvedin Džinić	Celje	Koper	26 February 2017	22	Report
Miha Blažič	Domžale	Koper	4 March 2017	23	Report
Gaber Dobrovoljc	Domžale	Gorica	17 May 2017	34	Report
Adis Hodžić	Maribor	Celje	17 May 2017	34	Report
Marko Krajcer	Krško	Koper	21 May 2017	35	Report

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Round	Report
Dominik Glavina	Rudar	Koper	4–1 (A)	1 October 2016	12	Report
Marko Alvir	Domžale	Gorica	5–0 (H)	5 November 2016	16	Report
John Mary	Rudar	Radomlje	1–5 (H)	2 April 2017	27	Report

Discipline and Fairplay

Pos	Team			Fairplay points
1	Aluminij	65	4	173
2	Gorica	70	1	178
3	Domžale	74	2	196
4	Koper	82	1	206
5	Celje	79	5	207
6	Rudar	89	2	220
7	Radomlje	83	5	221
8	Krško	84	2	237
9	Olimpija	72	2	295
10	Maribor	67	0	319
Totals		765	24

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Maribor	76,000	12,000	1,200	4,222	−0.9%†
2	Olimpija	59,370	13,770	600	3,298	−24.2%†
3	Domžale	18,650	3,500	150	1,036	+3.3%†
4	Celje	18,500	3,500	300	1,028	−12.8%†
5	Krško	17,300	1,900	400	961	−25.6%†
6	Koper	14,150	2,000	250	786	+3.7%†
7	Rudar	13,800	2,000	120	767	−25.4%†
8	Gorica	12,180	1,100	250	677	−7.4%†
9	Radomlje	9,900	1,200	150	550	+123.6%1
10	Aluminij	8,900	1,500	100	494	+183.9%1
	League total	248,750	13,770	100	1,381	−12.0%†

Source: PrvaLiga official website

Note¹: Team played the previous season in the Slovenian Second League.

Awards

Annual awards

PrvaLiga Player of the season

• Dare Vršič^[1]

PrvaLiga Goalkeeper of the season

• Jasmin Handanović^[1]

PrvaLiga U23 Player of the season

• Luka Zahović^[1]

PrvaLiga Team of the season

Handanović

Defendi

Šuler

Širok

Balkovec

Ibričić

Kapić

Glavina

Zahović

Vršič

Burgić

Slovenian PrvaLiga Team of the 2016–17 season – SPINS XI.

Player	Team	Position	Ref.
Jasmin Handanović	Maribor	Goalkeeper	[1]
Jure Balkovec	Domžale	Defender	[1]
Marko Šuler	Maribor	Defender	[1]
Rodrigo Defendi	Maribor	Defender	[1]
Matija Širok	Domžale	Defender	[1]
Dare Vršič	Maribor	Midfielder	[1]
Rifet Kapić	Gorica	Midfielder	[1]
Senijad Ibričić	Koper	Midfielder	[1]
Luka Zahović	Maribor	Forward	[1]
Dominik Glavina	Rudar	Forward	[1]
Miran Burgić	Gorica	Forward	[1]

See also

• 2016–17 Slovenian Football Cup
• 2016–17 Slovenian Second League