# 2016 S.League

The 2016 S.League (also known as the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st season of the S.League, the top-flight Singaporean professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1996. The season began on 13 February 2016, and concluded on 28 October 2016. DPMM FC were the defending champions.

## Teams

A total of 9 teams competed in the league. Albirex Niigata (S) and DPMM FC were invited foreign clubs from Japan and Brunei respectively.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Jurong East Stadium | 2,700 |
| Balestier Khalsa | Toa Payoh Stadium | 3,896 |
| DPMM FC | Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium | 28,000 |
| Geylang International | Bedok Stadium | 3,864 |
| Home United | Bishan Stadium | 6,254 |
| Hougang United | Hougang Stadium | 3,400 |
| Tampines Rovers | Jurong West Stadium | 4,200 |
| Warriors FC | Choa Chu Kang Stadium | 4,268 |
| Young Lions | Jalan Besar Stadium | 8,000 |

### Personnel and sponsoring

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Naoki Naruo | Yōsuke Nozawa | Hummel | Canon |
| Balestier Khalsa | Marko Kraljević | Zaiful Nizam | Umbro | Civic |
| DPMM FC | Steve Kean | Rosmin Muhammad Kamis | Lotto | – |
| Geylang International | Hasrin Jailani | Isa Halim | THORB | Epson |
| Home United | Aidil Sharin | Juma'at Jantan | Puma | AVEC |
| Hougang United | K. Balagumaran | Jozef Kapláň | Vonda | ESW |
| Tampines Rovers | Akbar Nawas | Mustafić Fahrudin | Kipsta | Hyundai |
| Warriors FC | Razif Onn | Zulfadli Zainal Abidin | Joma | Warriors |
| Young Lions | Patrick Hesse | Khairul Amri | Nike | Shopee |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | Tatsuyuki Okuyama | End of contract | 30 November 2015 | Pre-season | Naoki Naruo | 18 December 2015 |
| Geylang International | Jorg Steinebrunner | End of contract | 2 December 2015 | Pre-season | Hasrin Jailani | 15 December 2015 |
| Young Lions | Jürgen Raab | End of contract | 31 December 2015 | Pre-season | Richard Tardy | 1 January 2016 |
| Warriors FC | Karim Bencherifa | Mutual consent | 6 January 2016 | Pre-season | Jorg Steinebrunner | 6 January 2016 |
| Young Lions | Richard Tardy | End of caretaker spell | 15 February 2016 | 2nd | Patrick Hesse | 15 February 2016 |
| Warriors FC | Jorg Steinbrunner | Resigned | 14 May 2016 | 7th | Razif Onn | 14 May 2016 |
| Tampines Rovers | V. Sundramoorthy | Appointed head coach of Singapore | 27 May 2016 | 2nd | Akbar Nawas | 27 May 2016 |
| Home United | Philippe Aw | Redesignated | 30 July 2016 | 4th | Aidil Sharin | 4 August 2016 |

### Foreigners

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Prime League | Former |
| Balestier Khalsa | Emir Lotinac | Miroslav Kristic | Niko Tokić | Sadin Smajović | Robert Peričić |
| DPMM FC | Brian McLean | Rafael Ramazotti | Paulo Sergio | - | - |
| Geylang International | Yuki Ichikawa | Carlos Alberto Delgado | Mark Hartmann | Roberto Camarasa | Branko Čubrilo |
| Home United | Song Ui-young | Sirina Camara | Ken Ilsø | Ambroise Begue | - |
| Hougang United | Fumiya Kogure | Jozef Kapláň | Stipe Plazibat | Luke Allen | - |
| Tampines Rovers | Jordan Webb | Billy Mehmet | Jermaine Pennant | Diego Silvas | - |
| Warriors FC | Kento Fukuda | Nikola Rak | Jonathan Béhé | Marijan Šuto | - |
| Young Lions | - | - | - | - | Benjamin Bertrand |
* Albirex Niigata (S) is an all-Japanese team and do not hire any foreigners.

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata (S) | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 50 | 24 | +26 | 50 | |
| 2 | Tampines Rovers | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 50 | 28 | +22 | 49 | Qualification to AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 1 or AFC Cup Group Stage |
| 3 | DPMM FC | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 37 | +10 | 41 | |
| 4 | Home United | 24 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 50 | 42 | +8 | 37 | Qualification to AFC Cup Play-off Round |
| 5 | Geylang International | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 37 | |
| 6 | Hougang United | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Warriors FC | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 28 | |
| 8 | Balestier Khalsa | 24 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 23 | 42 | −19 | 19 | |
| 9 | Young Lions | 24 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 23 | 70 | −47 | 9 | |
* 1 2 3 The two foreign clubs – Albirex Niigata (S) and DPMM FC – as well as the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) under-21 team, Young Lions, are not eligible for any AFC competition spots.

## Results
### Matchday 13

Mid-week

### Matchday 27

    ^A The match, originally scheduled on 19 February, was postponed due to bad weather.

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

    As of matches played on 31 October 2016.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC | 20 |
| 2 | Jonathan Béhé | Warriors FC | 19 |
| 2 | Ken Ilsø | Home United | 19 |
| 4 | Stipe Plazibat | Hougang United | 15 |
| 5 | Atsushi Kawata | Albirex Niigata (S) | 13 |
| 6 | Jordan Webb | Tampines Rovers | 12 |
| 6 | Billy Mehmet | Tampines Rovers | 12 |
| 8 | Tatsuro Inui | Albirex Niigata (S) | 10 |

#### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Atsushi Kawata | Albirex Niigata (S) | Young Lions | 5–0 | 20 February 2016 |
| Atsushi Kawata | Albirex Niigata (S) | Home United | 3–0 | 8 April 2016 |
| Jordan Webb | Tampines Rovers | Young Lions | 6–1 | 14 June 2016 |
| Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC | Balestier Khalsa | 4–1 | 24 June 2016 |
| Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC | Young Lions | 5–3 | 26 September 2016 |
| Jonathan Béhé | Warriors FC | Hougang United | 5–1 | 25 October 2016 |

##### Note

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals

### Discipline

    As of matches played on 31 October 2016.

#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 7
** Al-Qaasimy Rahman (Geylang International)
** Stanely Ng (Geylang International)
** Anumanthan Kumar (Hougang United)
** Faiz Salleh (Hougang United)
** Nurhilmi Jasni (Hougang United)
** Raihan Rahman (Hougang United)
** Shakir Hamzah (Tampines Rovers)
* Most red cards: 2
** Madhu Mohana (Warriors)

#### Club

* Most yellow cards: 61
** Geylang International
* Most red cards: 5
** Warriors

## S-League Awards Night Winners

| Awards | Winners | Club |
| Player of the Year | Atsushi Kawata | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Young Player of the Year | M.Anumanthan | Hougang United |
| Coach of the Year | Naoki Naruo | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Top Scorer Award | Rafael Ramazotti | DPMM FC |
| Fair Play Award | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Referee of the Year | Sukhbir Singh |