# 2016–17 Slovak First Football League

The 2016–17 Slovak First Football League (known as the Slovak Fortuna Liga for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of first-tier football league in Slovakia, since its establishment in 1993. AS Trenčín were the defending champions, after winning their 2nd Slovak championship in the previous season. The fixtures were announced on 5 July 2016. The season began on 16 July 2016 and finished on 27 May 2017.

## Teams

A total of 12 teams competed in the league, including 11 sides from the 2015–16 season and one that was promoted from the 2. liga.
Relegation for MFK Skalica to the 2016–17 DOXXbet liga was confirmed on 21 May 2016. The relegated team was replaced by DOXXbet liga champion 1. FC Tatran Prešov.
2016–17 Teams
* AS Trenčín
* ŠK Slovan Bratislava
* Spartak Myjava
* FC Spartak Trnava
* MŠK Žilina
* MFK Ružomberok
* FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda
* ŽP Šport Podbrezová
* FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce
* FK Senica
* MFK Zemplín Michalovce
* 1. FC Tatran Prešov

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | 2015–16 season |
| AS Trenčín | Trenčín | Štadión na Sihoti | 3,500 | Champions |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Dunajská Streda | DAC Aréna$^1$ | 6,839 | 7th in Fortuna Liga |
| FO ŽP Šport Podbrezová | Podbrezová | ZELPO Aréna | 4,061 | 8th in Fortuna Liga |
| FK Senica | Senica | OMS Arena | 5,070 | 10th in Fortuna Liga |
| Michalovce | Michalovce | Mestský futbalový štadión$^{3,4}$ | 4,440 | 11th in Fortuna Liga |
| MFK Ružomberok | Ružomberok | Štadión pod Čebraťom | 4,817 | 6th in Fortuna Liga |
| 1. FC Tatran Prešov | Prešov | Tatran Stadium$^2$ | 5,410 | 2. Liga Champion |
| MŠK Žilina | Žilina | Štadión pod Dubňom | 11,258 | 5th in Fortuna Liga |
| Slovan Bratislava | Bratislava | Pasienky | 12,000 | 2nd in Fortuna Liga |
| Spartak Myjava | Myjava | Stadium Myjava | 2,709 | 3rd in Fortuna Liga |
| Spartak Trnava | Trnava | Štadión Antona Malatinského | 19,200 | 4th in Fortuna Liga |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Zlaté Moravce | Štadión FC ViOn | 4,000 | 9th in Fortuna Liga |
$^1$Some matches were played at NTC Senec in Senec while DAC Aréna was under renovation.
$^2$Some matches are played at NTC Poprad in Poprad while Tatran Stadium is under renovation.
$^3$Some matches were played at NTC Poprad in Poprad while Mestský futbalový štadión is under renovation.
$^4$Some matches are played at Štadión pod Dubňom in Žilina while Mestský futbalový štadión is under renovation.
| AS Trenčín | Dunajská Streda | Podbrezová | Michalovce |
| Štadión na Sihoti | DAC Aréna | ZELPO Aréna | Mestský futbalový štadión |
| Capacity: 3,500 | Capacity: 6,839 | Capacity: 4,061 | Capacity: 4,440 |
| FK Senica | MFK Ružomberok | MŠK Žilina | Slovan Bratislava |
| OMS Arena UEFA Stadium | Štadión pod Čebraťom UEFA Stadium | Štadión pod Dubňom UEFA Stadium | Pasienky |
| Capacity: 5,070 | Capacity: 4,817 | Capacity: 11,258 | Capacity: 12,000 |
| Spartak Myjava | Spartak Trnava | Tatran Prešov | Zlaté Moravce |
| Stadium Myjava | ŠAM - City Arena UEFA Stadium | Tatran Stadium | Štadión FC ViOn |
| Capacity: 2,709 | Capacity: 19,200 | Capacity: 5,410 | Capacity: 4,000 |

## Personnel and kits

| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| AS Trenčín | Tscheu La Ling | Martin Ševela | Peter Kleščík | Adidas | AEGON |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | Oszkár Világi | Csaba László | Marin Ljubičić | Adidas | Kukkonia |
| FO ŽP Šport Podbrezová | Július Kriváň | Karol Praženica | Jaroslav Kostelný | Adidas | Železiarne Podbrezová |
| FK Senica | Vladimír Levársky | Miroslav Mentel | Michal Šulla | hummel | Business Funding Solutions |
| MFK Ružomberok | Milan Fiľo | Norbert Hrnčár | Marek Sapara | Adidas | MAESTRO |
| MŠK Žilina | Jozef Antošík | Adrián Guľa | Viktor Pečovský | Nike | Preto |
| Slovan Bratislava | Ivan Kmotrík | Ivan Vukomanović | Boris Sekulić | Adidas | niké |
| Spartak Myjava | Pavel Halabrín | Mikuláš Radványi | Štefan Pekár | Uhlsport | NAD RESS |
| Spartak Trnava | Dušan Keketi | Miroslav Karhan | Lukáš Greššák | Adidas | ŽOS Trnava, ŠKODA |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | Karol Škula | Juraj Jarábek | Peter Orávik | Erreà | ViOn |
| MFK Michalovce | Ján Sabol | Anton Šoltis | Tomáš Sedlák | Adidas | Scorp |
| 1. FC Tatran Prešov | Miroslav Remeta | Miroslav Jantek | Jozef Talian | ATAK Sportswear | Dúha |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| MFK Zemplín Michalovce | Stanislav Griga | End of contract | 21 May 2016 | Pre-season | Anton Šoltis | 7 June 2016 |
| FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda | Tomislav Marić | End of contract | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Krisztián Németh | 23 May 2016 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Libor Fašiang | Sacked | 23 June 2016 | Pre-season | Peter Gergely | 23 May 2016 |
| Spartak Myjava | Norbert Hrnčár | Signed by MFK Ružomberok | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Mikuláš Radványi | 9 June 2016 |
| MFK Ružomberok | Ladislav Pecko | End of contract | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Norbert Hrnčár | 3 June 2016 |
| FK Senica | Juraj Sabol | Sacked | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Aleš Čvančara | 30 May 2016 |
| FK Senica | Aleš Čvančara | Terminated by own request | 13 July 2016 | 9-12 | Miroslav Mentel | 31 July 2016 |
| ŠK Slovan Bratislava | Nikodimos Papavasiliou | Sacked | 31 July 2016 | 2 | Vladimír Koník (carateker) | 31 July 2016 |
| ŠK Slovan Bratislava | Vladimír Koník | End of caretaker spell | 18 August 2016 | 5 | Ivan Vukomanović | 18 August 2016 |
| 1. FC Tatran Prešov | Stanislav Varga | Sacked | 14 October 2016 | 12 | Ján Karaffa (carateker) | 14 October 2016 |
| FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda | Krisztián Németh | Sacked | 20 October 2016 | 11 | Csaba László | 20 October 2016 |
| 1. FC Tatran Prešov | Ján Karaffa | End of caretaker spell | 2 November 2016 | 11 | Miroslav Jantek | 2 November 2016 |
| Zlaté Moravce | Peter Gergely | Sacked | 6 November 2016 | 12 | Juraj Jarábek | 6 November 2016 |
| FO ŽP Šport Podbrezová | Marek Fabula | Sacked | 25 April 2017 | 3 | Karol Praženica | 25 April 2017 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Žilina (C) | 30 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 82 | 25 | +57 | 73 | Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | Slovan Bratislava | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 57 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Ružomberok | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 55 | 38 | +17 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Trenčín | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 53 | 48 | +5 | 47 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Podbrezová | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 34 | 31 | +3 | 45 | |
| 6 | Spartak Trnava | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 34 | 37 | −3 | 43 | |
| 7 | DAC Dunajská Streda | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 42 | |
| 8 | Zemplín Michalovce | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 35 | 55 | −20 | 29 | |
| 9 | Senica | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 28 | |
| 10 | ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 29 | 55 | −26 | 22 | |
| 11 | Tatran Prešov | 30 | 3 | 10 | 17 | 17 | 63 | −46 | 19 | |
| 12 | Spartak Myjava (D, R) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrawal to 4. Liga for the 2017–18 season |
* ↑ Since the winners of the 2016–17 Slovak Cup, Slovan Bratislava, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team.
* ↑ Spartak Myjava withdrew from the league on 21 December 2016, and their results were expunged.

## Results

| Home \ Away | TRČ | DAC | POD | SEN | ZPM | RUŽ | ŽIL | SLO | TRV | TAT | ZTM | TRČ | DAC | POD | SEN | ZPM | RUŽ | ŽIL | SLO | TRV | TAT | ZTM |
| Trenčín | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | — | 3–2 | 3–4 | 4–0 | — |
| DAC Dunajská Streda | 2–3 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | — | — | 2–2 | — | — | — | — |
| Podbrezová | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | — | — | — | 1–4 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 |
| Senica | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | — | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | — |
| Zemplín Michalovce | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | — | — | — | 0–1 | — | — | — | 5–1 |
| Ružomberok | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | — | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6–1 | — | 2–0 | — | — | 3–1 | — | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Žilina | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 7–1 | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 7–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | — | 4–0 | 3–2 | — | 3–1 | — | — | — | 3–0 | — |
| Slovan Bratislava | 4–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | — | — | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | — | — | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Spartak Trnava | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | — | — | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Tatran Prešov | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| ViOn Zlaté Moravce | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | — | — | 1–4 | — | — | — | — |

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

    Updated through matches played on 27 May 2017.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Filip Hlohovský | MŠK Žilina | 20 |
| 1 | Seydouba Soumah | Slovan Bratislava | 20 |
| 3 | Rangelo Janga | AS Trenčín | 14 |
| 3 | Michal Škvarka | MŠK Žilina | 14 |
| 3 | Jakub Mareš | MFK Ružomberok | 14 |
| 6 | Tamás Priskin | Slovan Bratislava | 10 |
| 6 | Pavol Šafranko | Prešov (4)/DAC (6) | 10 |
| 8 | Nikolas Špalek | MŠK Žilina | 9 |
| 9 | Yusuf Otubanjo | MŠK Žilina | 8 |
| 9 | Erik Pačinda | DAC D.Streda | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Round | Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| 21 | Tamás Priskin | Slovan Bratislava | AS Trenčín | 4–3 | 25 February 2017 | |
| 30 | Erik Jirka | Spartak Trnava | AS Trenčín | 4–3 | 7 May 2017 | |

### Clean sheets

    Updated through matches played on 27 May 2017
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Martin Kuciak | Podbrezová | 14 |
| 2 | Adam Jakubech | Spartak Trnava | 13 |
| 3 | Miloš Volešák | MŠK Žilina | 12 |
| 4 | Michal Šulla | FK Senica | 8 |
| 4 | Matej Slávik | DAC D.Streda | 8 |
| 6 | Ján Mucha | Slovan Bratislava | 7 |
| 6 | Matúš Macík | MFK Ružomberok | 7 |
| 8 | Matúš Hruška | Spartak Myjava | 6 |
| 9 | Patrik Macej | Michalovce | 5 |
| 10 | Pavel Kováč | Zlaté Moravce | 4 |
| 10 | Jozef Talian | Tatran Prešov | 4 |
| 10 | Igor Šemrinec | AS Trenčín | 4 |

### Discipline

    As of matches played on 20 May 2017.

#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 11
** Miroslav Petko (Tatran Prešov)
** Marin Ljubičić (DAC D.Streda)
** Erik Streňo (Tatran Prešov)
* Most red cards: 1
** 25 players

## Awards
### Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Club |
| July | Martin Chrien | MFK Ružomberok |
| August | Nikolas Špalek | MŠK Žilina |
| September | Ľuboš Kolár | Spartak Myjava |
| October | Martin Kuciak | Podbrezová |
| Nov/Dec | Filip Hlohovský | MŠK Žilina |
| Feb/March | Tamás Priskin | Slovan Bratislava |
| April | Erick Davis | Dunajská Streda |

### Top Eleven

Source:
* Goalkeeper: Adam Jakubech (Spartak Trnava)
* Defence: Ernest Mabouka (MŠK Žilina), Kornel Saláta (Slovan Bratislava), Denis Vavro (MŠK Žilina), Jakub Holúbek (AS Trenčín/MŠK Žilina)
* Midfield: Michal Škvarka (MŠK Žilina), Marin Ljubičić (D.Streda), Nikolas Špalek (MŠK Žilina), Seydouba Soumah (Slovan Bratislava), Filip Hlohovský (MŠK Žilina)
* Attack: Jakub Mareš (MFK Ružomberok)

### Individual awards

Manager of the season
Adrián Guľa (MŠK Žilina)
Player of the Year
Filip Hlohovský (MŠK Žilina)
Young player of the Year
Pavol Šafranko (Podbrezová/D.Streda)