# 2015–16 Macedonian First Football League

The 2015–16 Macedonian First League was the 24th season of the Macedonian First Football League, the highest football league of Macedonia. It began on 9 August 2015 and ended on 19 May 2016. It was the last season as the format changed from the 2016–17 season which will each team be played the other sides four times on home-away basis, for a total of 36 matches each instead of play-off and play-out after 27th round.
The league was contested by 10 teams. Vardar are the defending champions, having won their eight title in 2014–15.

## Promotion and relegation

| At the start of the 2015–16 season Promoted from 2014–15 Second League Shkupi (winners) Mladost Carev Dvor (runners-up) Relegated to 2015–16 Second League Pelister (9th) Teteks (10th) | At the end of the 2015–16 season Promoted from 2015–16 Second League Pobeda (winners) Makedonija G.P. (runners-up) Pelister (3rd; won play-off) Relegated to 2016–17 Second League Horizont Turnovo (8th; lost play-off) Metalurg Skopje (9th) Mladost Carev Dvor (10th)$^1$ |
$^1$ Mladost Carev Dvor was declined their participation from the Second League due to financial problems.

## Participating teams

| Club | City | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bregalnica | Shtip | Gradski stadion Shtip | 4,000 |
| Metalurg | Skopje | Stadion Zhelezarnica | 3,000 |
| Mladost | Carev Dvor | SRC Biljanini Izvori | 2,500 |
| Rabotnichki | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 33,460 |
| Renova | Djepchishte | City Stadium Tetovo | 15,000 |
| Shkëndija | Tetovo | City Stadium Tetovo | 15,000 |
| Shkupi | Skopje | Chair Stadium | 6,000 |
| Sileks | Kratovo | Stadion Sileks | 1,800 |
| Horizont Turnovo | Turnovo | Stadion Kukush | 1,500 |
| Vardar | Skopje | Philip II Arena | 33,460 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Bregalnica | Igor Stojanov | Goran Zdravkov | Derbystar | Quehenberger |
| Metalurg | Alekso Mackov | Mile Krstev | Macron | Makstil |
| Mladost | Zdravko Cvetanoski | Aleksandar Ristevski | Legea | |
| Rabotnichki | Tomislav Franc | Bazhe Ilijoski | Zeus | |
| Renova | Qatip Osmani | Fisnik Nuhi | Jako | Renova |
| Shkendija | Bruno Akrapović | Ferhan Hasani | Nike | Ecolog |
| Shkupi | Visar Ganiu | Suat Zendeli | Lotto | Čair Municipality |
| Sileks | Momchilo Mitevski | Nikolcho Georgiev | Legea | |
| Horizont Turnovo | Jane Nikolovski | Sashko Pandev | Jako | Vitaminka |
| Vardar | Goce Sedloski | Boban Grncharov | Hummel | Zdravje |

## Regular season

The first 27 Rounds comprise the first phase of the season, also called the Regular season. In the first phase, every team plays against each other team twice on a home-away basis till all the teams have played two matches against each other. The table standings at the end of the Regular season determine the group in which each team is going to play in the Play-offs.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vardar | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 59 | 15 | +44 | 65 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 2 | Shkëndija | 27 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 62 | 21 | +41 | 63 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 3 | Sileks | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 40 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 4 | Shkupi | 27 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 28 | 25 | +3 | 38 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 5 | Rabotnichki | 27 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 36 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 6 | Bregalnica Shtip | 27 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 38 | 43 | −5 | 33 | Qualification for the championship round |
| 7 | Horizont Turnovo | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 33 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 8 | Renova | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 37 | −4 | 31 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 9 | Metalurg | 27 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 20 | 48 | −28 | 16 | Qualification for the relegation round |
| 10 | Mladost Carev Dvor | 27 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 18 | 65 | −47 | 16 | Qualification for the relegation round |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BRE | MET | MLA | RAB | REN | SKE | SHK | SIL | TUR | VAR | BRE | MET | MLA | RAB | REN | SKE | SHK | SIL | TUR | VAR |
| Bregalnica Shtip | — | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | — | 4–1 | — | 2–1 | — | 0–3 | — | — | 2–0 | — |
| Metalurg | 0–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | — | — | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–4 | — | — | 0–1 | — |
| Mladost Carev Dvor | 1–4 | 1–5 | — | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–5 | — | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–3 |
| Rabotnichki | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | — | — | 2–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | — |
| Renova | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–1 | — |
| Shkëndija | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | — | — | 2–0 | — | 3–1 | — | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | — |
| Shkupi | 0–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | — | 1–0 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 0–1 |
| Sileks | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | — | — | — | 3–1 |
| Horizont Turnovo | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | — | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 |
| Vardar | 3–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 | — | 4–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — |

## Second phase

The second phase are the so-called Play-off Rounds which is divided in two groups: Championship and Relegation. The top 6 ranked teams on the table after the Regular Season qualify for the Championship group, while the bottom 4 advance to the Relegation group.

### Championship round

In the Championship round, each team plays against every other one only once, making 5 games in total. Records from the first phase are carried over. Teams play each other once with each team playing five games in this round.

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vardar (C) | 32 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 67 | 17 | +50 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Shkëndija | 32 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 74 | 24 | +50 | 75 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Sileks | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 44 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Rabotnichki | 32 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 36 | 30 | +6 | 43 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Bregalnica Shtip | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 38 | |
| 6 | Shkupi | 32 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 38 | |
* ↑ Shkëndija qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Macedonian Football Cup.

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BRE | RAB | SKE | SHK | SIL | VAR |
| Bregalnica Shtip | — | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | — | — |
| Rabotnichki | — | — | — | — | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Shkëndija | 3–0 | 3–1 | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| Shkupi | — | 0–1 | 1–3 | — | — | — |
| Sileks | 1–1 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 1–2 |
| Vardar | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | — |

### Relegation round

In the Relegation round, each team plays twice against every opponent on a home-away basis. Records from the first phase are carried over. Teams play each other twice with each team playing six games in this round.

#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 7 | Renova | 33 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 49 | 42 | +7 | 47 | |
| 8 | Horizont Turnovo (R) | 33 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 45 | 43 | +2 | 46 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 9 | Metalurg (R) | 33 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 27 | 66 | −39 | 19 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |
| 10 | Mladost Carev Dvor (R) | 33 | 6 | 1 | 26 | 22 | 81 | −59 | 19 | Relegation to the Macedonian Second League |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | MET | MLA | REN | TUR |
| Metalurg | — | 4–0 | 2–4 | 0–4 |
| Mladost Carev Dvor | 2–0 | — | 0–4 | 0–2 |
| Renova | 3–1 | 4–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Horizont Turnovo | 5–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — |

## Relegation play-offs
### Second leg

Pelister won 3–1 on aggregate.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 19 May 2016
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Besart Ibraimi | Shkëndija | 26 |
| 2 | Sashko Pandev | Horizont Turnovo | 16 |
| 3 | Blazhe Ilijoski | Rabotnichki | 13 |
| 4 | Ferhan Hasani | Shkëndija | 12 |
| 5 | Igor Nedeljković | Sileks | 11 |
| 6 | Dejan Blazhevski | Vardar | 9 |
| 6 | Armend Alimi | Shkëndija | 9 |
| 6 | Argjent Gafuri | Renova | 9 |
| 6 | Marjan Radeski | Shkëndija | 9 |
| 10 | Angel Nacev | Bregalnica | 8 |
| 10 | Argjent Gafuri | Renova | 8 |
Source: MacedonianFootball