# 2016 Meistriliiga

The 2016 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season of the Meistriliiga, the highest division of Estonian football system. The season began on 4 March 2016 and concluded on 5 November 2016.
Infonet won the league on the last matchday of the season, finishing with 80 points. It was their first league title.

## Teams

A total of 10 teams will contest the league. These include 9 teams from the 2015 season and one promoted team from the 2015 Esiliiga: Tarvas, making their debut in the top flight. Tarvas replaces Tulevik who were relegated from the Meistriliiga after a single season. In the relegation play-off Tammeka successfully defended their league spot by defeating challengers Tallinna Kalev.

### Stadia

| Team | Location | Stadium | Seating capacity |
| Flora | Tallinn | A. Le Coq Arena | 9,692 |
| Infonet | Tallinn | Infonet Lasnamäe Stadium | 400 |
| Levadia | Tallinn | Kadriorg Stadium | 5,000 |
| Narva Trans | Narva | Kreenholm Stadium | 1,065 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Tallinn | Hiiu Stadium | 300 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Paide | Paide linnastaadion | 268 |
| Pärnu Linnameeskond | Pärnu | Pärnu Rannastaadion | 1,501 |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Sillamäe | Sillamäe Kalev Stadium | 800 |
| Tammeka | Tartu | Tamme Stadium | 1,750 |
| Tarvas | Rakvere | Rakvere linnastaadion | 1,785 |

### 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 | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Flora | Argo Arbeiter | Gert Kams | Nike | Tele2 |
| Infonet | Aleksandr Puštov | Andrei Kalimullin | Joma | Infonet |
| Levadia | Igor Prins | Rimo Hunt | Adidas | Viimsi Keevitus |
| Narva Trans | Adyam Kuzyaev | Roman Nesterovski | Nike | Sportland |
| Nõmme Kalju | Sergei Frantsev | Vitali Teleš | Adidas | Optibet |
| Paide Linnameeskond | Meelis Rooba | Lauri Varendi | Nike | Enemat |
| Pärnu Linnameeskond | Marko Lelov | Karl Palatu | Hummel | Wendre |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Algimantas Briaunys Vadym Dobizha | Mihhail Starodubtsev | Uhlsport | Alexela |
| Tammeka | Indrek Koser | Kaarel Kiidron | Nike | Sportland |
| Tarvas | Urmas Kirs | Kaarel Saar | Nike | Aqva Hotel & Spa |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Levadia | Marko Kristal | Sacked | 7 November 2015 | Pre-season | Sergei Ratnikov | 7 November 2015 |
| Nõmme Kalju | Getúlio Fredo | Caretaker spell over | 7 November 2015 | Pre-season | Sergei Frantsev | 7 November 2015 |
| Sillamäe Kalev | Denis Ugarov | Sacked | 24 May 2016 | 8th | Algimantas Briaunys (caretaker) Vadym Dobizha (caretaker) | 24 May 2016 |
| Tarvas | Valeri Bondarenko | Sacked | 4 June 2016 | 10th | Urmas Kirs | 4 June 2016 |
| Flora | Norbert Hurt | Resigned | 8 July 2016 | 4th | Jürgen Henn (caretaker) | 8 July 2016 |
| Levadia | Sergei Ratnikov | Sacked | 11 July 2016 | 2nd | Igor Prins | 11 July 2016 |
| Flora | Jürgen Henn | Caretaker spell over | 13 July 2016 | 4th | Argo Arbeiter | 13 July 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Infonet Tallinn (C) | 36 | 24 | 8 | 4 | 74 | 33 | +41 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Levadia Tallinn | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 77 | 30 | +47 | 78 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Nõmme Kalju | 36 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 70 | 28 | +42 | 75 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Flora Tallinn | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 96 | 31 | +65 | 73 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Sillamäe Kalev | 36 | 14 | 9 | 13 | 65 | 55 | +10 | 51 | |
| 6 | Paide Linnameeskond | 36 | 14 | 6 | 16 | 58 | 61 | −3 | 48 | |
| 7 | Tartu Tammeka | 36 | 12 | 5 | 19 | 43 | 65 | −22 | 41 | |
| 8 | Narva Trans | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 60 | 68 | −8 | 41 | |
| 9 | Pärnu Linnameeskond (O) | 36 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 24 | 98 | −74 | 17 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 10 | Rakvere Tarvas (R) | 36 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 15 | 113 | −98 | 3 | Relegation to the Esiliiga |
* ↑ Since the winner of the 2016–17 Estonian Cup FCI Tallinn had qualified to Champions League, the cup winners' spot was inherited by fourth-placed club Flora.

### Relegation play-offs

At season's end Pärnu, the ninth place club, participated in a two-legged play-off with Maardu Linnameeskond, the runners-up (of independent teams) of the 2016 Esiliiga, for the spot in 2017 Meistriliiga.
    Pärnu Linnameeskond won 9–4 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2017 season.

## Results

Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 games.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Yevgeni Kabaev | Sillamäe Kalev | 25 |
| 2 | Rauno Sappinen | Flora | 19 |
| 2 | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | 19 |
| 4 | Rauno Alliku | Flora | 15 |
| 5 | Anton Miranchuk | Levadia | 14 |
| 5 | Dmitri Proshin | Narva Trans | 14 |
| 5 | Ats Purje | Nõmme Kalju | 14 |
| 5 | Sakari Tukiainen | Flora | 14 |
| 9 | Kristjan Tiirik | Tammeka | 12 |
| 9 | Vladimir Voskoboinikov | Infonet | 12 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Sakari Tukiainen$^5$ | Flora | Tarvas | 6–0 | 8 March 2016 |
| Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | Tarvas | 4–2 | 13 May 2016 |
| Albert Prosa | Flora | Sillamäe Kalev | 4–2 | 13 May 2016 |
| Rauno Alliku$^4$ | Flora | Tarvas | 5–0 | 19 June 2016 |
| Rizvan Umarov | Narva Trans | Tammeka | 4–1 | 19 June 2016 |
| Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | Tammeka | 3–0 | 9 July 2016 |
| Ats Purje | Nõmme Kalju | Tarvas | 6–1 | 10 July 2016 |
| Anton Miranchuk | Levadia | Paide Linnameeskond | 7–1 | 24 July 2016 |
| Sakari Tukiainen | Flora | Paide Linnameeskond | 3–0 | 29 July 2016 |
| Yevgeni Kabaev$^4$ | Sillamäe Kalev | Tammeka | 5–1 | 30 July 2016 |
| Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond | Pärnu Linnameeskond | 4–1 | 9 September 2016 |
| Kaspar Paur | Tammeka | Tarvas | 5–0 | 9 September 2016 |
| Andrei Sidorenkov | Nõmme Kalju | Pärnu Linnameeskond | 4–0 | 17 September 2016 |
| Rauno Alliku | Flora | Pärnu Linnameeskond | 6–1 | 1 October 2016 |
| Dmitri Barkov | Narva Trans | Pärnu Linnameeskond | 7–1 | 29 October 2016 |
$^4$ Player scored 4 goals. $^5$ Player scored 5 goals.

### Average attendance

| Club | Average attendance |
| Tallinna FC Flora | 388 |
| Nõmme JK Kalju | 321 |
| Tartu JK Tammeka | 297 |
| Pärnu Linnameeskond | 285 |
| Tallinna FC Levadia | 234 |
| Tallinna FC Infonet | 222 |
| Paide Linnameeskond | 206 |
| Rakvere JK Tarvas | 205 |
| JK Sillamäe Kalev | 174 |
| JK Narva Trans | 144 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club |
| March | Aleksandr Puštov | Infonet | Ofosu Appiah | Infonet |
| April | Meelis Rooba | Paide Linnameeskond | Andrei Sidorenkov | Nõmme Kalju |
| May | Aleksandr Puštov | Infonet | Anton Miranchuk | Levadia |
| June/July | Algimantas Briaunys | Sillamäe Kalev | Dmitri Kruglov | Infonet |
| August | Argo Arbeiter | Flora | Gert Kams | Flora |
| September | Igor Prins | Levadia | Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko | Paide Linnameeskond |
| October | Sergei Frantsev | Nõmme Kalju | Yevgeni Kabaev | Sillamäe Kalev |

### Meistriliiga Player of the Year

Yevgeni Kabaev was named Meistriliiga Player of the Year.