HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2015–16 season of the
Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...
(also known as '' Jupiler Pro League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier football in
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
. It started in the last week of July 2015 and finished in May 2016. Gent were the defending champions. This was the last season under the "Pro League" name; a reorganisation of the Belgian professional leagues followed the season, with the top league to be known from 2016–17 forward as "First Division A".


Changes from 2014–15


Structural changes

Some changes were introduced in comparison to the previous season, with the most important one being the relegation rules. Instead of organising a relegation playoff between the teams finishing in the two last positions, this season will rather see the last team relegated immediately, while the 15th placed team will not play in any playoff and will remain in the renamed Belgian First Division A. Several other smaller changes were introduced, namely: * The team finishing on top of the table following the regular season, will be assured at least place in the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Ajax and ...
in case they drop out of the top two positions and thereby miss out on the
2016–17 UEFA Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...
. They will be awarded a spot in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, or even the
Group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
in case the
2015–16 Belgian Cup The 2015–16 Belgian Cup, called the Croky Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the 61st season of Belgian's annual football cup competition. The competition began on 24 July 2015 and ended with the final in March 2016. The winners of the competition ...
winners finish in the top two. * In case two or more teams finish with equal points after the Championship Playoff, the first tiebreaker will now be the finishing position during the regular season. * The disciplinary record (number of yellow cards) will now be erased for all players after conclusion of the regular season. Any suspensions already obtained will be kept. In addition, during the playoffs, players will now pick up a one match ban already after three yellow cards, rather than five as during the regular season. The first two of these rules were put in force as a compensation for the rule that the points obtained during the regular season are halved prior to the start of the championship playoff, to the complaint of several teams that had been in the lead after the regular season the past few seasons. The third rule was put in force to avoid the effect of players intentionally taking yellow cards near the end of the regular season, to make sure they were suspended before the playoffs (mostly against lesser teams) and could start the deciding playoffs with a clean sheet.


Team changes

*
Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Division ...
and
Lierse Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring (), often simply known as Lierse, was a Belgian professional football club from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse have won four championship titles and two Belgian Cups. Lierse was one of the six Be ...
were relegated. Cercle Brugge after losing the relegation playoff series against Lierse, while Lierse lost the
promotion playoff Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
. *
Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The mu ...
was promoted as 2014–15 Belgian Second Division champions. *
OH Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, ''D ...
who won the promotion playoff and returned to the Belgian Pro League just one season after their relegation.


Teams


Stadiums and locations


Personnel and kits


Managerial changes


Regular season


League table


Positions by round

Note: The classification was made after the weekend (or midweek) of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the ''real'' evolution in standings. * On matchday 16, the matches Lokeren - Anderlecht and Mouscron-Péruwelz - Charleroi were postponed due to increased safety measures following the
November 2015 Paris attacks The November 2015 Paris attacks () were a series of coordinated Islamist terrorist attacks that took place on Friday, 13 November 2015 in Paris, France, and the city's northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 9:15p.m., three suicide bomber ...
. These matches were played on 22 and 23 December, between matchdays 20 and 21.


Results


Championship play-offs

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 32 points, Gent 30, Anderlecht 28, Oostende 25, Genk 24 and Zulte Waregem 22.


Play-off table


Positions by round

Below the positions per round are shown. As teams did not all start with an equal number of points, the initial pre-playoffs positions are also given.


Europa League play-offs

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 are placed in Group B.


Group A


Group B


Europa League play-off final

The winners of both playoff groups compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs, called Testmatch. The winner of this Testmatch was granted an entry to the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. ---- ''Charleroi won 3–1 on aggregate.''


Testmatches Europa League

The matches were played over two legs between the Europa League play-off final winners and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs. The winner qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. ---- Genk won 5–3 on aggregate.


Season statistics


Top scorers


Top assists


Multiple goals in one match


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Belgian Pro League Belgian First Division A seasons
Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...
1