The 2016 A Lyga, also known as ''SMSCredit.lt A Lyga'' for sponsoring purposes was the 27th season of the

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Auk� ...

, the top-tier

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league of Lithuania. The season began on 2 March and ended on 26 November 2016. Žalgiris Vilnius were the defending champions.

Teams

FK Šiauliai FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place ...

failed to obtain a license to play in the

and were relegated alongside FK Kruoja, which withdrew and FK Klaipedos Granitas, which was disqualified. They were replaced by FK Lietava Jonava, which will make its debut at the top level. FK Spyris Kaunas changed its name to

FK Kauno Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Kauno Žalgiris (''Football club Kauno Žalgiris'') is a professional football club based in Kaunas, Lithuania, that competes in the A lyga, the top tier of Lithuania. The club was founded as FM Spyris Kaunas in 2004, became the ...

Changes from 2015

The league reduced its number of teams from ten sides down to eight. As a consequence, each team will play every other four times, twice at home and twice away with the top six then playing an additional round against each other.

Clubs and locations

The following teams are competing in the 2016 championship: Stadium location

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Regular season

Table

Results

Championship round

Top six will play each other once.

Table

Results

Relegation play-offs

The 7th placed team will face the runners-up of the 2016 LFF I Lyga for a two-legged play-off. The winner on aggregate score after both matches will earn entry into the 2017 A Lyga.

First leg

Second leg

''3–3 on aggregate. Utenis won on away goals.''

Season statistics

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

Attendance

— Official attendance statistic for the play-off matches wasn't publicly released.

Awards

Yearly awards

Awards were presented at the LFF Awards ceremony, which was held on November 28. Finalists for voted awards were announced after the season and winners were presented at the award ceremony.

Quarterly awards

"Golden Heart" initiative

From 2016 season

A lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Auk� ...

together with

Lithuanian Football Federation The Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) ( lt, Lietuvos futbolo federacija) is the governing body of football in Lithuania. The Federation is responsible for football development in the country and for the national teams, including the Lithuania ...

decided to expand project "Bring you hearts to the stadium" and honor players who played 10 or more times for the Lithuania national team with golden heart on their shirts. In 2016 season these players have had this evaluation: *

FK Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Žalgiris, commonly known as FK Žalgiris, Žalgiris Vilnius or simply Žalgiris, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Vilnius. The club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Football in L ...

— Egidijus Vaitkūnas,

Saulius Mikoliūnas Saulius Mikoliūnas (born 2 May 1984) is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays as a right winger for A Lyga club Žalgiris and the Lithuania national team. He has previously played for Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlot ...

, Linas Pilibaitis, Marius Žaliūkas,

Vytautas Lukša Vytautas Lukša (born 14 August 1984) is a Lithuanian former professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally mean ...

Mantas Kuklys Mantas Kuklys (born 10 June 1987) is a Lithuanian footballer who plays for Žalgiris and the Lithuania national football team as a midfielder. Professional career He started his professional career at FK Šiauliai (Šiauliai Club). On 26 Nov ...

, Simonas Stankevičius * FK Trakai —

Deividas Česnauskis Deividas Česnauskis (born 30 June 1981) is a Lithuanian former professional footballer who played as a winger. He made 63 FIFA-official appearances for the Lithuanian national team scoring four goals. Club career Early career Česnauskis wa ...

, Arūnas Klimavičius, Tadas Labukas,

Nerijus Valskis Nerijus Valskis (born 4 August 1987) is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Kauno Žalgiris and Lithuania national team. Club career Earlier career Valskis began his senior club career in 2005 at FK Žalgiris of L ...

—

Andrius Velička Andrius Velička (born 5 April 1979) is a Lithuanian retired professional association footballer who played as a striker for clubs in Russia, Kazakhstan, Scotland, England, Norway and Azerbaijan in addition to his homeland. He also played for t ...

Ignas Dedura Ignas Dedura (born 6 January 1978) is a Lithuanian former Association football, football player. Club career Dedura began his career at FBK Kaunas in 1997, scoring 13 goals in 105 appearances, before moving to Russia in 2001 where he played for ...

, Audrius Kšanavičius * FK Sūduva — Tomas Radzinevičius, Vaidas Slavickas, *

FK Atlantas FK Atlantas was a Lithuanian football team from the port city of Klaipėda. The club's name has changed several times. It was established in 1962 as ''Granitas'', and became ''PSK Aras'' in 1993. Since 1996, when FK Sirijus Klaipėda was ab ...

—

Andrius Jokšas Andrius Jokšas (born 12 January 1979) is a retired Lithuanian football midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in th ...

* FK Lietava — Valdemaras Borovskis * FK Utenis — Pavelas Leusas

Team of the Week

References

— The match between

and

FK Sūduva Marijampolė FK or fk may refer to: In arts and entertainment: * Flyer Killer, fictional automated robots in the ''Terminator'' film franchise. * Fox Kids, a former American children's television programming block. * Funky Kong, a video game character. Place: ...

was postponed due to the Champions League qualification match happening that week, so neither club's players were considered for the award. {{2016 in Lithuanian football LFF Lyga seasons 1 Lithuania Lithuania