# 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. It began on 29 July 2016 and finished on 31 May 2017. The fixtures were announced on 8 June 2016. Club Brugge were the defending champions but had to settle for second place with Anderlecht taking their 34th title.

## 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

| 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 | Pre-season | Ivan Leko | 14 April 2016 |
| Anderlecht | Besnik Hasi | Mutual consent | End of 2015–16 season | Pre-season | René Weiler | 21 June 2016 |
| Kortrijk | Patrick De Wilde | Mutual consent | End of 2015–16 season | Pre-season | Karim Belhocine | 1 July 2016 |
| Kortrijk | Karim Belhocine | Did not possess Pro-licence diploma | 29 August 2016 | 8th | Bart Van Lancker | 29 August 2016 |
| Standard Liège | Yannick Ferrera | Sacked | 6 September 2016 | 10th | Aleksandar Janković | 6 September 2016 |
| Mechelen | Aleksandar Janković | Signed by Standard Liège | 6 September 2016 | 7th | Yannick Ferrera | 12 September 2016 |
| Westerlo | Bob Peeters | Sacked | 13 September 2016 | 16th | Jacky Mathijssen | 14 September 2016 |
| Lokeren | Georges Leekens | Sacked | 26 October 2016 | 12th | Rúnar Kristinsson | 28 October 2016 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Stijn Vreven | Sacked | 28 October 2016 | 14th | Čedomir Janevski | 7 November 2016 |
| Excel Mouscron | Glen De Boeck | Sacked | 5 December 2016 | 15th | Mircea Rednic | 6 December 2016 |
| Genk | Peter Maes | Sacked | 26 December 2016 | 9th | Albert Stuivenberg | 27 December 2016 |
| Kortrijk | Bart Van Lancker | Belhocine obtained Pro-licence diploma | 8 March 2017 | 10th | Karim Belhocine | 8 March 2017 |
| Standard Liège | Aleksandar Janković | Sacked | 17 April 2017 | 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 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 3 | Zulte Waregem | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 54 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 4 | Gent | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 45 | 29 | +16 | 50 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 5 | Oostende | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 52 | 37 | +15 | 50 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 6 | Charleroi | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 49 | Qualification for the championship play-offs |
| 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 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 9 | Standard Liège | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 47 | 38 | +9 | 39 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 10 | Kortrijk | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 31 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 11 | Lokeren | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 24 | 34 | −10 | 31 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 12 | Sint-Truiden | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 35 | 48 | −13 | 30 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 13 | Eupen | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 40 | 64 | −24 | 30 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 14 | Waasland-Beveren | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 28 | 43 | −15 | 30 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 15 | Excel Mouscron | 30 | 7 | 3 | 20 | 29 | 53 | −24 | 24 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 16 | Westerlo (R) | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 33 | 65 | −32 | 23 | Relegation to First Division B |
* 1 2 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. 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.

### 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 | 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 | — |
* ↑ 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. 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.

## 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 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — |
* ↑ 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 | — |

### 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 | — |

### 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.

### 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.

## Season statistics
### Clean sheets

    As of matches played on 25 February 2017.
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Ludovic Butelle | Club Brugge | 12 |
| 2 | Colin Coosemans | Mechelen | 9 |
| 2 | Nicolas Penneteau | Charleroi | 9 |
| 4 | Jean-François Gillet | Standard | 8 |
| 5 | Marco Bizot | Genk | 7 |
| 6 | Frank Boeckx | Anderlecht | 6 |
| 6 | Sammy Bossut | Zulte Waregem | 6 |
| 6 | Copa | Lokeren | 6 |
| 6 | Koen Van Langendonck | Westerlo | 6 |
| 10 | William Dutoit | Sint-Truiden & Oostende | 5 |
| 10 | László Köteles | Waasland-Beveren | 5 |
| 10 | Anthony Moris | Mechelen | 5 |
| 10 | Davy Roef | Anderlecht | 5 |
| 10 | 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 |
| 2 | Hainaut | Charleroi and Mouscron |
| 2 | Liège | Eupen and Standard Liège |
| 2 | 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:
| 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 |