# 2015–16 Bahrain First Division League

The 2015–16 Bahraini First Division League was the 59th top-level football season in Bahrain. Fourteen teams participated. Muharraq was the defending champions after securing their thirty-third championship the previous season.
The league began on 26 October 2015.

## Teams

Bahrain SC and Al-Shabab were relegated at the end of the previous campaign and replaced by Al-Ahli and Sitra. Sitra Club bounced back after one season away from the top flight and Al-Ahli were back after spending 4 years in the second tier.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Manager |
| Al-Ahli Club (Manama) | Manama | Adnan Ibrahim |
| Al Hidd | Al Hidd | Salman Shareeda |
| Al Hala | Muharraq | Mohammad Zwayed |
| Al-Muharraq | Muharraq | Essa Al-Saadoun |
| Busaiteen Club | Busaiteen | Khalifa Al-Ziani |
| East Riffa Club | Manama | Mohammad Shamlan |
| Malkiya | Malkiya | Ahmad Saleh Al-Dakhil |
| Manama Club | Manama | Khaled Taj |
| Riffa S.C. | Riffa | Ahmad Essa |
| Sitra Club | Sitra | Khaled Al-Harban |
* Although most clubs do have a stadium, all games are actually played at the National Stadium, Khalifa Sports City Stadium and in Al Ahli Stadium. Games are normally played as back to back headers.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Muharraq | Dragan Cvetkovic | Sacked | 8 October 2015 | Pre-Season | Khaled Taj | 10 October 2015 |
| Manama | Miguel Olmo Forte | Sacked | 28 October 2015 | 9th | Ismaeel Karami | 28 October 2015 |
| Riffa | Mohammad Al-Shamlan | Sacked | 29 November 2015 | 8th | Samir bin Shammam | 29 November 2015 |
| Manama | Ismaeel Karami | Replaced by Chokri Bejaoui | 10 December 2015 | 10th | Chokri Bejaoui | 10 December 2015 |
| East Riffa | Essa Al-Saadoun | Resigned | 27 January 2016 | 4th | Mohammad Shamlan | 28 January 2016 |
| Muharraq | Khaled Taj | Sacked | 1 February 2016 | 2nd | Essa Al-Saadoun | 2 February 2016 |
| Manama | Chokri Bejaoui | Sacked | 11 April 2016 | 10th | Khaled Taj | 11 April 2016 |
| Riffa | Samir bin Chammam | Sacked | 2 May 2016 | 4th | Ahmad Essa | 2 May 2016 |

### Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Asian Player | Former Player(s) |
| Al-Ahli | Cleiton Mineiro | Diego Silva | | Imad Zatara | Cedric Fein Manuchehr Akhmadov |
| Al-Hala | João Luiz | | | | Nasigba John-Jumbo José Coelho |
| Al-Hidd | Ifedayo Olusegun | Orok Akarandut | Uche Agba | Mohammad Al Daoud | |
| Al-Muharraq | Felipinho | Kanú | Admir Ćatović | Shohrux Gadoyev | Karim Boutadjine Hamdi Al Masri |
| Busaiteen Club | Ozéia | Rico | | Israa Hamwiah | Eliel Cruz |
| East Riffa Club | Ben Konaté | Eliassou Issiaka | Valentin Lemnaru | Mudir Al-Radaei | Adam Alis |
| Malkiya | Victor Gonța | | | | |
| Manama Club | Diego Barboza | Bojan Božović | | | Leomar |
| Riffa SC | Léo Bahia | Moussa Narry | Onuoha Ogbonna | Ahmad Al Douni | Khalil Bani Attiah |
| Sitra Club | Márcio Teruel | | | Azamat Baymatov | |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al Hidd (C) | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 39 | 15 | +24 | 42 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 |
| 2 | Al-Muharraq | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 32 | Qualification to the 2017 AFC Cup group stage |
| 3 | Malkiya | 18 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 27 | Qualification to the 2017 GCC Champions League Group Stage |
| 4 | Al-Riffa | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 22 | 26 | −4 | 23 | |
| 5 | East Riffa | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 18 | +4 | 22 | |
| 6 | Al-Ahli | 18 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 22 | |
| 7 | Manama Club | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 27 | −10 | 21 | |
| 8 | Al Hala | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 31 | −9 | 20 | |
| 9 | Busaiteen (R) | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 17 | 31 | −14 | 20 | Relegation to the 2016–17 Bahraini Second Division |
| 10 | Sitra (R) | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 25 | −5 | 18 | Relegation to the 2016–17 Bahraini Second Division |
* ↑ Muharraq qualified for 2017 AFC Cup Group Stage as winners of 2015–16 Bahraini King's Cup.

## Season statistics
### Goalscorers

    As of matches played 26 April 2016
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mohammad Saad Al-Rumaihi | Al Hidd | 17 |
| 1 | Ismail Abdullatif | Muharraq | 17 |
| 2 | Essa Abdulwahab Al-Beri | Malkiya | 10 |
| 3 | Ali Al-Asfour | Sitra | 7 |
| 3 | Sami Al-Husaini | East Riffa | 7 |
| 3 | Diego Pelicles da Silva | Al-Ahli | 7 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ismail Abdullatif | Muharraq | Hala | 3–0 | 22 April 2016 |
| Ismail Abdullatif | Muharraq | Riffa | 3–3 | 18 May 2016 |