# 2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League

The 2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League is the 37th season of top-tier football in Zimbabwe. The season began on 1 April 2016 when How Mine took on newly promoted Bulawayo City at White City Stadium. CAPS United won their fifth league championship and first in 11 years.

## Attendances

Highlanders F.C. drew the highest average home attendance in the league in 2016, with an average attendance of 5,614. The previous year, they drew an average home attendance of 7,276 for domestic league games. The league's average attendance in 2016 was 920 (441,608 total attendance).

## Teams

A total of 16 teams are contesting the league, including 12 sides from the 2015 season and four promoted from the 2015 Zimbabwe Division 1, Border Strikers, Bulawayo City, Mutare City Rovers and Ngezi Platinum. On the other hand, Buffaloes, Dongo Sawmills, Flame Lilly and Wha Wha were the last four teams of the 2015 season and will play in the Zimbabwe Division 1 for the 2016 season. Chicken Inn are the defending champions from the 2015 season.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Home city | Stadium | Capacity | 2015 season |
| Border Strikers | Beitbridge | Dulivhadzimu Stadium | 32,000 | Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| Bulawayo City | Bulawayo | Barbourfields Stadium | | Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| CAPS United | Harare | National Sports Stadium | 60,000 | 5th in Premier League |
| Chapungu United | Gweru | Ascot Stadium | 5,000 | 9th in Premier League |
| Chicken Inn | Bulawayo | Luveve Stadium | 8,000 | Premier League Champions |
| Dynamos | Harare | Rufaro Stadium | 35,000 | 2nd in Premier League |
| Harare City | Harare | Rufaro Stadium | 35,000 | 7th in Premier League |
| Highlanders | Bulawayo | Barbourfields Stadium | 32,000 | 6th in Premier League |
| How Mine | Bulawayo | White City Stadium | 20,000 | 11th in Premier League |
| Hwange Colliery | Hwange | Colliery Stadium | 15,000 | 8th in Premier League |
| ZPC Kariba | Harare | Gwanzura | 10,000 | 10th in Premier League |
| Mutare City Rovers | Mutare | Sakubva Stadium | 20,000 | Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| Ngezi Platinum | Ngezi | Baobab Stadium | 10,000 | Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| Platinum | Zvishavane | Mandava Stadium | 3,000 | 3rd in Premier League |
| Triangle United | Chiredzi | Gibbo Stadium | 3,000 | 4th in Premier League |
| Tsholotsho | Beitbridge | Dulivhadzimu Stadium | 32,000 | 12th in Premier League |

## Results
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | CAPS United (C, Q) | 30 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 63 | 2017 CAF Champions League |
| 2 | Platinum | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 38 | 15 | +23 | 61 | |
| 3 | Highlanders | 30 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 24 | +17 | 56 | |
| 4 | Chicken Inn | 30 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 47 | |
| 5 | Dynamos | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 46 | |
| 6 | Kariba | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 21 | +2 | 45 | |
| 7 | Ngezi Platinum | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 41 | |
| 8 | Bulawayo City | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 41 | |
| 9 | Harare City | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 39 | |
| 10 | How Mine | 30 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 39 | |
| 11 | Triangle United | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 38 | |
| 12 | Hwange | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 36 | |
| 13 | Chapungu United (R) | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 21 | 27 | −6 | 32 | Relegation to 2017 Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| 14 | Tsholotsho (R) | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 37 | −14 | 26 | Relegation to 2017 Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| 15 | Mutare City (R) | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 25 | 44 | −19 | 26 | Relegation to 2017 Zimbabwe Division 1 |
| 16 | Border Strikers (R) | 30 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 10 | 41 | −31 | 15 | Relegation to 2017 Zimbabwe Division 1 |
* ↑ Mutare City were docked 3 points for playing ineligible player Kudakwashe Gurure.

### Result table

All teams play in a double round robin system (home and away).
| Home \ Away | BOR | BUL | CAP | CHA | CHI | DYN | HAR | HIG | HOW | HWA | KAR | MUT | NGE | PLA | TRI | TSH |
| Border Strikers | | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Bulawayo City | 1–0 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| CAPS United | 1–0 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Chapungu United | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Chicken Inn | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Dynamos | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Harare City | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| Highlanders | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| How Mine | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Hwange | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 1–0 |
| Kariba | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Mutare City | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 |
| Ngezi Platinum | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Platinum | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Triangle United | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | | 1–0 |
| Tsholotsho | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | |

## Positions by round

* Leader
* Relegation to Zimbabwe Division 1
| 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 |
| CAPS United | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Platinum | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Highlanders | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Chicken Inn | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Dynamos | 13 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Kariba | 5 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Ngezi Platinum | 1 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| Bulawayo City | 8 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| Harare City | 11 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| How Mine | 9 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Triangle United | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| Hwange | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
| Chapungu United | 13 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Tsholotsho | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| Mutare City | 13 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 |
| Border Strikers | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |

## Season statistics
### Goals
#### Top scorers

    As of 26 November 2016
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Leonard Tsipa | CAPS United | 11 |
| 2 | Gift Mbweti | Hwange | 9 |
| 2 | Walter Musona | Platinum | 9 |
| 4 | Obadiah Tarumbwa | Chicken Inn | 8 |
| 5 | Kuda Gurure | Mutare City | 7 |
| 5 | Bruce Kangwa | Highlanders | 7 |
| 5 | Agrippa Murimba | Mutare City | 7 |
| 5 | Simba Nhivi | CAPS United | 7 |
| 9 | Masimba Mambare | Dynamos | 6 |
| 10 | Rodwell Chinyengetere | Platinum | 5 |
| 10 | Dominic Chungwa | CAPS United | 5 |
| 10 | Prince Dube | Highlanders | 5 |
| 10 | William Manondo | Harare City | 5 |
| 10 | Raphael Manuvire | Harare City | 5 |
| 10 | Marvelous Mukumba | Triangle United | 5 |
| 10 | Simon Munawa | Highlanders | 5 |
| 10 | James Nguluve | Ngezi Platinum | 5 |
| 10 | Donald Tegure | Ngezi Platinum | 5 |
| 10 | Gilbert Zulu | Hwange | 5 |

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: Pascal Manhanga for How Mine against Bulawayo City (3 April 2016)