# 2016–17 Eredivisie

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. PSV were the defending champions after winning the title for a record 23rd time.
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.
| 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 | Pre-season | Ernest Faber | 1 July 2016 |
| NEC | Ernest Faber | Signed by Groningen | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Peter Hyballa | 1 July 2016 |
| Heerenveen | Foppe de Haan | End of contract | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Jurgen Streppel | 1 July 2016 |
| Willem II | Jurgen Streppel | Signed by Heerenveen | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Erwin van de Looi | 1 July 2016 |
| Vitesse | Rob Maas | Resigned | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Henk Fraser | 1 July 2016 |
| Roda JC | Darije Kalezić | Sacked | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Giannis Anastasiou | 1 July 2016 |
| Ajax | Frank de Boer | Resigned | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Peter Bosz | 1 July 2016 |
| Excelsior | Alfons Groenendijk | Mutual consent | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Mitchell van der Gaag | 1 July 2016 |
| ADO Den Haag | Henk Fraser | Signed by Vitesse | 1 July 2016 | Pre-season | Željko Petrović | 1 July 2016 |
| ADO Den Haag | Željko Petrović | Mutual consent | 7 February 2017 | 16th | Alfons Groenendijk | 8 February 2017 |
| Go Ahead Eagles | Hans de Koning | Sacked | 22 March 2017 | 18th | Robert Maaskant | 25 March 2017 |
| NEC | Peter Hyballa | Sacked | 24 April 2017 | 17th | Ron de Groot | 25 April 2017 |
| Roda JC | Giannis Anastasiou | Sacked | 23 May 2017 | 17th | Huub Stevens | 23 May 2017 |

## 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 |
| 5 | Vitesse | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 6 | AZ | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 49 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 7 | Twente | 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 |
| 9 | Heerenveen | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 54 | 53 | +1 | 43 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |
| 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 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 18 | Go Ahead Eagles (R) | 34 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 32 | 73 | −41 | 23 | Relegation to Eerste Divisie |
* 1 2 3 Four teams played for a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.
* ↑ Vitesse qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2016–17 KNVB Cup.
* ↑ Twente was excluded from European football for 3 years on 15 December 2015.

## 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 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nicolai Jørgensen | Feyenoord | 21 |
| 2 | Reza Ghoochannejhad | Heerenveen | 20 |
| 2 | Ricky van Wolfswinkel | Vitesse | 20 |
| 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 |
| 8 | Jens Toornstra | Feyenoord | 14 |
| 10 | Sébastien Haller | Utrecht | 13 |
| 10 | Wout Weghorst | AZ | 13 |

### 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 | Hakim Ziyech | Twente / Ajax | 12 |
| 2 | Nicolai Jørgensen | Feyenoord | 11 |
| 2 | Sam Larsson | Heerenveen | 11 |
| 4 | Milot Rashica | Vitesse | 10 |
| 4 | Andrés Guardado | PSV | 10 |
| 6 | Davy Klaassen | Ajax | 9 |
| 6 | Jens Toornstra | Feyenoord | 9 |

### Clean sheets

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

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 10
** Denzel Dumfries (Sparta)
** Danny Holla (PEC Zwolle)
* Most red cards: 3
** 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 | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| Groningen | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| AZ | 4 | 4 | 8 | | | | |
| AZ | 4 | 4 | 8 | AZ | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| | | | | Utrecht (p) | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Heerenveen | 1 | 1 | 2 | Utrecht (p) | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 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 | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third 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 | Roda JC | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | | |
| 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 | NEC | 3 | 1 | 4 | | | | |
| 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 |
| 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 |