2016 Esiliiga B

The 2016 Esiliiga B was the 4th season of the Esiliiga B, the third-highest Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2013. The season began on 28 February 2016 and concluded on 6 November 2016.^[1]

Esiliiga B

Season	2016
Champions	Kuressaare (1st title)
Promoted	Kuressaare Elva Welco
Relegated	Flora U19 Tulevik II
Matches played	180
Goals scored	672 (3.73 per match)
Top goalscorer	Maarek Suursaar (33 goals)
Biggest home win	Kuressaare 12–0 Tulevik II (12 June 2016)
Biggest away win	Tulevik II 0–6 Tallinna Kalev II (10 July 2016) Tulevik II 0–6 Sillamäe Kalev II (29 August 2016)
Highest scoring	Kuressaare 10–3 Tammeka U21 (14 July 2016)
Longest winning run	7 matches Kuressaare
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches Kuressaare Elva
Longest winless run	15 matches Tulevik II
Longest losing run	12 matches Tulevik II
← 2015 2017 →

Kuressaare won the league, finishing with 76 points and were promoted to the Esiliiga. It was their first Esiliiga B title in history.

Teams

Stadia

Flora U19
Kalev II

Sillamäe II

Joker

Elva

Kuressaare

Tammeka U21
Welco

Tulevik II

Viimsi

Locations of the 2016 Esiliiga B teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Elva	Elva	Elva linnastaadion	30[2]
Flora U19	Tallinn	Sportland Arena	540[3]
Joker	Raasiku	Raasiku artificial turf	200[4]
Kuressaare	Kuressaare	Kuressaare linnastaadion	1,000[5]
Sillamäe Kalev II	Sillamäe	Sillamäe Kalev artificial turf	0[6]
Tallinna Kalev II	Tallinn	Kalev Keskstaadion artificial turf	270[7]
Tammeka U21	Tartu	Sepa Stadium	300[8]
Tulevik II	Viljandi	Viljandi linnastaadion	1,068[9]
Viimsi	Haabneeme	Viimsi KK Stadium
Welco	Tartu	Tamme Stadium	1,750[10]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Elva	Kaido Koppel	Jürgen Kuresoo	Nike	Sportland
Flora U19	Risto Kallaste	Silver Räämet	Nike	Tele2[11]
Joker	Andre Ilves	Rene Lill	Joma	Unibox
Kuressaare	Sander Viira	Elari Valmas	Joma	Saaremaa Lihatööstus
Sillamäe Kalev II	Vadym Dobizha		Uhlsport	Alexela
Tallinna Kalev II	Daniel Meijel		Jako	ViisTek Media[12]
Tammeka U21	Timo Teniste		Nike	Goldtime
Tulevik II	Raiko Mutle		Joma	Viljandi Aken ja Uks
Viimsi	Urmas Kirs		Joma
Welco	Siim Valtna	Mikk Valtna	Nike

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Kuressaare	Pelle Pohlak	Signed by Flora U19	1 January 2016	Pre-season	Sander Viira	1 January 2016
Tammeka U21	Sander Lember	Mutual consent	1 January 2016		Timo Teniste	1 January 2016
Flora U19	Pelle Pohlak	Appointed as president of Flora	12 July 2016	9th	Risto Kallaste	12 July 2016

Results

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Kuressaare (C, P)	36	23	7	6	117	48	+69	76	Promotion to the Esiliiga
2	Elva (P)	36	21	5	10	67	39	+28	68
3	Welco (O, P)	36	20	4	12	74	50	+24	64	Qualification for the promotion play-offs
4	Tammeka U21	36	18	5	13	89	64	+25	59
5	Tallinna Kalev II[a]	36	16	7	13	72	53	+19	55
6	Sillamäe Kalev II	36	16	5	15	70	61	+9	53
7	Joker	36	14	10	12	74	66	+8	52
8	Viimsi (O)	36	15	6	15	56	64	−8	51	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
9	Flora U19[a] (R)	36	4	7	25	27	85	−58	19	Relegation to II liiga
10	Tulevik II[a] (R)	36	4	2	30	26	142	−116	14

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Esiliiga B (in Estonian)
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Play-off (only if deciding champion); 3) Less matches awarded against; 4) Matches won; 5) Head-to-head points; 6) Head-to-head goal difference; 7) Goal difference; 8) Goals scored; 9) Away goals scored; 10) Fairplay ranking.^[13]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion.

Results tables

First half of the season Home \ Away ELV FLO JOK KUR SIL KAL TAM TUL VII WEL Elva 5–2 2–4 0–2 3–2 0–1 5–0 2–1 5–1 0–3 Flora U19 0–4 0–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–5 5–0 0–1 1–3 Joker 1–1 1–1 3–3 4–2 5–1 1–1 3–2 1–2 2–0 Kuressaare 2–2 5–0 4–1 6–0 0–0 4–2 12–0 6–0 4–0 Sillamäe Kalev II 1–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 0–1 1–2 5–0 2–1 0–2 Tallinna Kalev II 1–0 4–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–2 8–0 0–0 2–1 Tammeka U21 0–1 0–0 2–1 1–3 3–1 4–2 6–1 4–1 1–1 Tulevik II 2–0 1–1 0–3 2–5 0–0 0–6 0–4 1–0 1–5 Viimsi 0–2 3–1 1–0 0–1 1–4 3–2 2–1 4–1 0–0 Welco 1–0 5–1 3–1 4–1 0–2 0–1 3–2 2–1 2–0 Source: Esiliiga B Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of the season Home \ Away ELV FLO JOK KUR SIL KAL TAM TUL VII WEL Elva 0–0 3–0 2–1 3–0 2–0 0–0 7–2 2–0 0–0 Flora U19 0–1 0–1 0–5 1–0 0–2 0–0 AWD[a] 2–2 1–2 Joker 2–3 1–3 2–2 4–4 0–1 1–0 6–1 3–1 2–0 Kuressaare 1–2 5–1 2–2 AWD[b] 3–1 10–3 2–0 1–2 8–3 Sillamäe Kalev II 0–2 4–1 2–2 4–1 2–4 2–1 1–0 3–4 3–2 Tallinna Kalev II 1–0 5–1 3–3 0–0 2–4 2–3 5–0 1–1 3–2 Tammeka U21 5–0 3–0 4–1 3–5 4–5 4–1 3–0 4–0 2–0 Tulevik II 2–4 2–1 2–3 1–5 0–6 0–3 2–7 0–3 1–2 Viimsi 1–3 5–0 0–5 2–2 2–1 3–1 4–2 6–0 0–1 Welco 0–1 3–1 7–1 1–2 2–1 4–3 3–1 7–0 0–0 Source: Esiliiga B Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. Notes: EJL awarded Tulevik II a win due to Flora U19 fielding an ineligible player. The original match had ended in a 0–0 draw. EJL awarded Kuressaare a win after Sillamäe Kalev II forfeited the match.

Play-offs

Promotion play-offs

Welco, who finished 3rd, faced Nõmme Kalju U21, 8th-placed 2016 Esiliiga side for a two-legged play-off. The first leg originally ended 3–2 to Nõmme Kalju U21 but they were later ruled to have forfeited the match after fielding an ineligible player Henrik Pürg. According to the rules, the second leg was cancelled and Welco earned entry into the 2017 Esiliiga.

First leg

12 November 2016

14:00 (UTC+2)

Welco	2–0 Awarded	Nõmme Kalju U21
Reinberg 10' Kaasik 52'	Report

Annelinn Stadium, Tartu

Referee: Kristo Külljastinen

Second leg

19 November 2016

13:00 (UTC+2)

Nõmme Kalju U21	Match cancelled	Welco

Hiiu Stadium, Tallinn

Relegation play-offs

Viimsi, who finished 8th, faced Keila, the II liiga play-offs winner. The winner on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2017 Esiliiga B. Viimsi won on away goals.

First leg

12 November 2016

13:00 (UTC+2)

Keila	2–1	Viimsi
Mõek 77' Luhaorg 83' (o.g.)	Report	Prints 39'

Keila Stadium, Keila

Referee: Eiko Saar

Second leg

19 November 2016

12:00 (UTC+2)

Viimsi	1–0	Keila
Sillaste 75'	Report

Viimsi KK Stadium, Haabneeme

Referee: Dmitri Kulikov

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[14]
1	Maarek Suursaar	Kuressaare	33
2	Jürgen Kuresoo	Elva	29
3	Rauno Esop	Joker	25
4	Karl Anton Sõerde	Tallinna Kalev II	22
5	Sander Laht	Kuressaare	17
	Erki Mõttus	Tammeka U21
7	Roman Grigorevski	Sillamäe Kalev II	15
	Mikk Rajaver	Kuressaare
9	Mikk Valtna	Welco	14
10	Martin Aasmäe	Tammeka U21	11
	Andre Ilves	Joker

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
March[15]	Timo Teniste	Tammeka U21	Martin-Gert Pärli	Tammeka U21
April[16]	Siim Valtna	Welco	Karl Andre Vallner	Tallinna Kalev II
May[17]	Sander Viira	Kuressaare	Rauno Esop	Joker
June/July[18]	Kaido Koppel	Elva	Sander Laht	Kuressaare
August[19]	Kaido Koppel	Elva	Jürgen Kuresoo	Elva
September[20]	Daniel Meijel	Tallinna Kalev II	Maarek Suursaar	Kuressaare
October[21]	Sander Viira	Kuressaare	Lauri Särak	Welco

Esiliiga B Player of the Year

Jürgen Kuresoo was named Esiliiga B Player of the Year.^[22]

See also

• 2015–16 Estonian Cup
• 2016–17 Estonian Cup
• 2016 Meistriliiga
• 2016 Esiliiga