# 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga

The 2016–17 Slovenian PrvaLiga (also known as the Prva liga Telekom Slovenije for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th edition of the Slovenian PrvaLiga since its establishment in 1991. The season began on 16 July 2016 and ended on 27 May 2017. The official fixture schedule was released on 24 June 2016.

## Competition format

Each team played 36 matches (18 home and 18 away). Teams played four matches against each other (2 home and 2 away).

## Teams
### Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

A total of ten teams contested the league, including eight from the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga and two promoted from the 2015–16 Slovenian Second League. Radomlje won direct promotion as winners of the 2015–16 Slovenian Second League. They replaced Krka in the top division, who placed at the bottom of the 2015–16 Slovenian PrvaLiga table. This was the second season for Radomlje in top flight, having previously been a member during the 2014–15 Slovenian PrvaLiga season.
The PrvaLiga play-off for the final spot in the top division was played between Zavrč and Aluminij. Zavrč won the play-off fixture with the score 4–3 on aggregate, but the club was unsuccessful in obtaining a licence to play in the top division for the next season, due to financial reasons. The Football Association of Slovenia then invited Aluminij to take their spot and the side from Kidričevo accepted. Aluminij had previously played in the PrvaLiga during the 2012–13 season.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity$^1$ | 2015–16 position |
| Aluminij | Kidričevo | Aluminij Sports Park | 532 | 2. SNL, 2nd |
| Celje | Celje | Arena Petrol | 13,059 | 5th |
| Domžale | Domžale | Domžale Sports Park | 3,100 | 3rd |
| Gorica | Nova Gorica | Nova Gorica Sports Park | 3,100 | 4th |
| Koper | Koper | Bonifika | 4,047 | 8th |
| Krško | Krško | Matija Gubec | 1,470 | 6th |
| Maribor | Maribor | Ljudski vrt | 12,702 | Runners-up |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Ljubljana | Stožice | 16,038 | Champions |
| Radomlje | Radomlje | Domžale Sports Park$^2$ | 3,100 | 2. SNL, 1st |
| Rudar Velenje | Velenje | Ob Jezeru | 1,864 | 7th |
$^1$Seating capacity only. Some stadiums also have standing areas. $^2$Radomlje played its home games in Domžale, because their home venue did not meet PrvaLiga stadium criteria.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Aluminij | Slobodan Grubor | Matic Vrbanec | Zeus Sport | Talum |
| Celje | Igor Jovićević | Jure Travner | Legea | Cinkarna |
| Domžale | Simon Rožman | Luka Žinko | Joma | Tark |
| Gorica | Miran Srebrnič | Alen Jogan | Erreà | GEN-I |
| Koper | Igor Pamić | Toni Datković | Nike | Port of Koper |
| Krško | Rok Zorko | Marko Zalokar | Erima | GEN, Kostak |
| Maribor | Darko Milanič | Marcos Tavares | Adidas | Zavarovalnica Sava, Nova KBM, Radio City |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Safet Hadžić | Branko Ilić | Nike | Telekom Slovenije |
| Radomlje | Adnan Zildžović | Igor Barukčič | Joma | Kalcer |
| Rudar Velenje | Vanja Radinović | David Kašnik | Joma | None |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Rudar Velenje | Ramiz Smajlović (interim) | 15 June 2016 | Pre-season | Milovan Rajevac | 15 June 2016 |
| Rudar Velenje | Milovan Rajevac | 27 June 2016 | Pre-season | Slobodan Krčmarević | 30 June 2016 |
| Radomlje | Dejan Djuranović | 16 August 2016 | 10th | Jani Žilnik | 16 August 2016 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Rodolfo Vanoli | 31 August 2016 | 2nd | Luka Elsner | 2 September 2016 |
| Domžale | Luka Elsner | 2 September 2016 | 5th | Simon Rožman | 2 September 2016 |
| Koper | Milan Obradović | 26 September 2016 | 5th | Oliver Bogatinov (interim) | 28 September 2016 |
| Koper | Oliver Bogatinov | 5 October 2016 | 6th | Igor Pamić | 5 October 2016 |
| Celje | Robert Pevnik | 6 October 2016 | 5th | Igor Jovićević | 6 October 2016 |
| Radomlje | Jani Žilnik | 14 November 2016 | 10th | David McDonough (interim) | 14 November 2016 |
| Rudar Velenje | Slobodan Krčmarević | 1 December 2016 | 6th | Branko Čavić (interim) | 1 December 2016 |
| Aluminij | Bojan Špehonja | 21 December 2016 | 9th | Slobodan Grubor | 3 January 2017 |
| Radomlje | David McDonough | 4 January 2017 | 10th | Robert Pevnik | 4 January 2017 |
| Rudar Velenje | Branko Čavić | 9 January 2017 | 6th | Vanja Radinović | 9 January 2017 |
| Radomlje | Robert Pevnik | 20 February 2017 | 10th | Adnan Zildžović | 20 February 2017 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Luka Elsner | 9 March 2017 | 2nd | Marijan Pušnik | 9 March 2017 |
| Krško | Tomaž Petrovič | 13 March 2017 | 8th | Rok Zorko | 13 March 2017 |
| Olimpija Ljubljana | Marijan Pušnik | 3 April 2017 | 3rd | Safet Hadžić | 4 April 2017 |

### Transfers
## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Maribor (C) | 36 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 63 | 30 | +33 | 73 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Gorica | 36 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 49 | 35 | +14 | 60 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Domžale | 36 | 16 | 8 | 12 | 63 | 45 | +18 | 56 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Celje | 36 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 55 | |
| 6 | Koper (R) | 36 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 50 | Relegation to fourth tier |
| 7 | Rudar Velenje | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 49 | 53 | −4 | 41 | |
| 8 | Krško | 36 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 39 | |
| 9 | Aluminij | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 38 | |
| 10 | Radomlje (R) | 36 | 1 | 10 | 25 | 23 | 80 | −57 | 13 | Relegation to Slovenian Second League |
* 1 2 Gorica ahead of Olimpija on head-to-head record: Olimpija–Gorica 1–0, Gorica–Olimpija 1–1, Olimpija–Gorica 1–2, Gorica–Olimpija 1–0
* ↑ Domžale qualified for Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Slovenian Football Cup.
* ↑ Koper did not get a competition licence and was thus relegated to the fourth division.

### Positions by round

Key :
* Final round before the winter break
| Team \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Maribor | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gorica | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Olimpija | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Domžale | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Celje | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Koper | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Rudar | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Krško | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Aluminij | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Radomlje | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

## PrvaLiga play-off

The two-legged play-off between Aluminij, the ninth-placed team in PrvaLiga and Ankaran Hrvatini, the third-placed team in the 2. SNL, should have been played in June 2017. However, on 1 June 2017, the Football Association of Slovenia announced that FC Koper did not obtain a competition licence for PrvaLiga. Therefore, the play-offs were not held and both Aluminij and Ankaran Hrvatini secured a place in the 2017–18 PrvaLiga season.

## Season statistics
### Own goals

| Player | For | Against | Date | Round | Report |
| Miha Blažič | Domžale | Maribor | 31 July 2016 | 3 | Report |
| Marko Šuler | Maribor | Gorica | 13 August 2016 | 5 | Report |
| Janez Pišek | Celje | Maribor | 28 August 2016 | 7 | Report |
| Klemen Šturm | Krško | Olimpija | 2 October 2016 | 12 | Report |
| Milan Kocić | Aluminij | Domžale | 20 November 2016 | 17 | Report |
| Aleksandar Zukić | Radomlje | Olimpija | 4 December 2016 | 20 | Report |
| Elvedin Džinić | Celje | Koper | 26 February 2017 | 22 | Report |
| Miha Blažič | Domžale | Koper | 4 March 2017 | 23 | Report |
| Gaber Dobrovoljc | Domžale | Gorica | 17 May 2017 | 34 | Report |
| Adis Hodžić | Maribor | Celje | 17 May 2017 | 34 | Report |
| Marko Krajcer | Krško | Koper | 21 May 2017 | 35 | Report |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Round | Report |
| Dominik Glavina | Rudar | Koper | 4–1 (A) | 1 October 2016 | 12 | Report |
| Marko Alvir | Domžale | Gorica | 5–0 (H) | 5 November 2016 | 16 | Report |
| John Mary | Rudar | Radomlje | 1–5 (H) | 2 April 2017 | 27 | Report |

### Discipline and Fairplay

| Pos | Team | | | Fairplay points |
| 1 | Aluminij | 65 | 4 | 173 |
| 2 | Gorica | 70 | 1 | 178 |
| 3 | Domžale | 74 | 2 | 196 |
| 4 | Koper | 82 | 1 | 206 |
| 5 | Celje | 79 | 5 | 207 |
| 6 | Rudar | 89 | 2 | 220 |
| 7 | Radomlje | 83 | 5 | 221 |
| 8 | Krško | 84 | 2 | 237 |
| 9 | Olimpija | 72 | 2 | 295 |
| 10 | Maribor | 67 | 0 | 319 |
| Totals | Totals | 765 | 24 | |

### Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Maribor | 76,000 | 12,000 | 1,200 | 4,222 | −0.9%$^†$ |
| 2 | Olimpija | 59,370 | 13,770 | 600 | 3,298 | −24.2%$^†$ |
| 3 | Domžale | 18,650 | 3,500 | 150 | 1,036 | +3.3%$^†$ |
| 4 | Celje | 18,500 | 3,500 | 300 | 1,028 | −12.8%$^†$ |
| 5 | Krško | 17,300 | 1,900 | 400 | 961 | −25.6%$^†$ |
| 6 | Koper | 14,150 | 2,000 | 250 | 786 | +3.7%$^†$ |
| 7 | Rudar | 13,800 | 2,000 | 120 | 767 | −25.4%$^†$ |
| 8 | Gorica | 12,180 | 1,100 | 250 | 677 | −7.4%$^†$ |
| 9 | Radomlje | 9,900 | 1,200 | 150 | 550 | +123.6%$^1$ |
| 10 | Aluminij | 8,900 | 1,500 | 100 | 494 | +183.9%$^1$ |
| | League total | 248,750 | 13,770 | 100 | 1,381 | −12.0%$^†$ |
Source: PrvaLiga official website
Note$^1$: Team played the previous season in the Slovenian Second League.

## Awards
### Annual awards

PrvaLiga Player of the season
* Dare Vršič
PrvaLiga Goalkeeper of the season
* Jasmin Handanović
PrvaLiga U23 Player of the season
* Luka Zahović

### PrvaLiga Team of the season

| Player | Team | Position |
| Jasmin Handanović | Maribor | Goalkeeper |
| Jure Balkovec | Domžale | Defender |
| Marko Šuler | Maribor | Defender |
| Rodrigo Defendi | Maribor | Defender |
| Matija Širok | Domžale | Defender |
| Dare Vršič | Maribor | Midfielder |
| Rifet Kapić | Gorica | Midfielder |
| Senijad Ibričić | Koper | Midfielder |
| Luka Zahović | Maribor | Forward |
| Dominik Glavina | Rudar | Forward |
| Miran Burgić | Gorica | Forward |