The 2016 Meistriliiga (known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 26th season of the Meistriliiga, the highest division of Estonian football system. The season began on 4 March 2016 and concluded on 5 November 2016.
Infonet won the league on the last matchday of the season, finishing with 80 points. It was their first league title.
Teams A total of 10 teams played in the league. These included 9 teams from the 2015 season and one promoted team from the 2015 Esiliiga: Tarvas, making their debut in the top flight. Tarvas replaced Tulevik who were relegated out of the Meistriliiga after a single season. In the relegation play-off Tammeka successfully defended their league spot by defeating challengers Tallinna Kalev.
Stadia
Team Location Stadium Seating capacity Flora Tallinn A. Le Coq Arena Infonet Tallinn Infonet Lasnamäe Stadium Levadia Tallinn Kadriorg Stadium Narva Trans Narva Kreenholm Stadium Nõmme Kalju Tallinn Hiiu Stadium Paide Linnameeskond Paide Paide linnastaadion Pärnu Linnameeskond Pärnu Pärnu Rannastaadion Sillamäe Kalev Sillamäe Sillamäe Kalev Stadium Tammeka Tartu Tamme StadiumTarvasRakvereRakvere linnastaadion
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. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Flora Argo Arbeiter Gert Kams Nike Tele2 Infonet Aleksandr Puštov Andrei Kalimullin Joma Infonet Levadia Igor Prins Rimo Hunt Adidas Viimsi Keevitus Narva Trans Adyam Kuzyaev Roman Nesterovski Nike Sportland Nõmme Kalju Sergei Frantsev Vitali Teleš Adidas Optibet Paide Linnameeskond Meelis Rooba Lauri VarendiNike Enemat Pärnu Linnameeskond Marko Lelov Karl Palatu Hummel Wendre Sillamäe Kalev Algimantas Briaunys Vadym Dobizha Mihhail Starodubtsev Uhlsport Alexela Tammeka Indrek Koser Kaarel Kiidron Nike Sportland Tarvas Urmas Kirs Kaarel Saar Nike Aqva Hotel & Spa
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Levadia Marko Kristal Sacked 7 November 2015 Pre-season Sergei Ratnikov 7 November 2015 Nõmme Kalju Getúlio Fredo Caretaker spell over 7 November 2015 Sergei Frantsev 7 November 2015 Sillamäe Kalev Denis Ugarov Sacked 24 May 2016 8th Algimantas Briaunys (caretaker) Vadym Dobizha (caretaker) 24 May 2016 Tarvas Valeri Bondarenko Sacked 4 June 2016 10th Urmas Kirs 4 June 2016 Flora Norbert Hurt Resigned 8 July 2016 4th Jürgen Henn (caretaker) 8 July 2016 Levadia Sergei Ratnikov Sacked 11 July 2016 2nd Igor Prins 11 July 2016 Flora Jürgen Henn Caretaker spell over 13 July 2016 4th Argo Arbeiter 13 July 2016
League table
Relegation play-offs At season's end Pärnu, the ninth place club, participated in a two-legged play-off with Maardu Linnameeskond, the runners-up (of independent teams) of the 2016 Esiliiga, for the spot in 2017 Meistriliiga.
Pärnu Linnameeskond won 9–4 on aggregate and retained their Meistriliiga spot for the 2017 season.
Results Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 games.
First half of season
Second half of season
Season statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Yevgeni KabaevSillamäe Kalev252 Rauno SappinenFlora19 Vjatšeslav ZahovaikoPaide Linnameeskond4 Rauno AllikuFlora155 Anton MiranchukLevadia14 Dmitri ProshinNarva Trans Ats PurjeNõmme Kalju Sakari TukiainenFlora9 Kristjan TiirikTammeka12 Vladimir VoskoboinikovInfonet
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Sakari Tukiainen5 Flora Tarvas 6–0 8 March 2016 Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Paide Linnameeskond Tarvas 4–2 13 May 2016 Albert Prosa Flora Sillamäe Kalev 4–2 13 May 2016 Rauno Alliku4 Flora Tarvas 5–0 19 June 2016 Rizvan UmarovNarva Trans Tammeka 4–1 19 June 2016 Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Paide Linnameeskond Tammeka 3–0 9 July 2016 Ats Purje Nõmme Kalju Tarvas 6–1 10 July 2016 Anton Miranchuk Levadia Paide Linnameeskond 7–1 24 July 2016 Sakari Tukiainen Flora Paide Linnameeskond 3–0 29 July 2016 Yevgeni Kabaev4 Sillamäe Kalev Tammeka 5–1 30 July 2016 Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko Paide Linnameeskond Pärnu Linnameeskond 4–1 9 September 2016 Kaspar Paur Tammeka Tarvas 5–0 9 September 2016 Andrei Sidorenkov Nõmme Kalju Pärnu Linnameeskond 4–0 17 September 2016 Rauno Alliku Flora Pärnu Linnameeskond 6–1 1 October 2016 Dmitri Barkov Narva Trans Pärnu Linnameeskond 7–1 29 October 2016 4 Player scored 4 goals. 5 Player scored 5 goals.
Average attendance
+ Club Average attendance Tallinna FC Flora 388 Nõmme JK Kalju 321 Tartu JK Tammeka 297 Pärnu Linnameeskond 285 Tallinna FC Levadia 234 Tallinna FC Infonet 222 Paide Linnameeskond 206 Rakvere JK Tarvas 205 JK Sillamäe Kalev 174 JK Narva Trans 144+ League average 248
Awards Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubMarch Aleksandr PuštovInfonet Ofosu AppiahInfonetApril Meelis RoobaPaide Linnameeskond Andrei SidorenkovNõmme KaljuMay Aleksandr PuštovInfonet Anton MiranchukLevadiaJune/July Algimantas BriaunysSillamäe Kalev Dmitri KruglovInfonetAugust Argo ArbeiterFlora Gert KamsFloraSeptember Igor PrinsLevadia Vjatšeslav ZahovaikoPaide LinnameeskondOctober Sergei FrantsevNõmme Kalju Yevgeni KabaevSillamäe Kalev
Meistriliiga Player of the Year Yevgeni Kabaev was named Meistriliiga Player of the Year.
See also 2015–16 Estonian Cup 2016–17 Estonian Cup 2016 Esiliiga 2016 Esiliiga B
References