2015–16 Belgian Pro League

The 2015–16 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started in the last week of July 2015 and finished in May 2016. Gent were the defending champions.

This marked the final season under the "Pro League" name. A reorganization of the Belgian professional leagues ensued after the season, leading to the top league being renamed "First Division A" starting from the 2016–17 season onward.

Some changes have been introduced compared to the previous season, with the most significant one being the relegation rules. Instead of organizing a relegation playoff between the teams finishing in the two last positions, this season will see the last team relegated immediately, while the team placed 15th will not participate in any playoff and will remain in the renamed Belgian First Division A.^[2]

Several other smaller changes were introduced,^[3] 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 in case they drop out of the top two positions and thereby miss out on the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. They will be awarded a spot in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round, or even the Group stage in case the 2015–16 Belgian Cup 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 implemented as compensation for the rule that halves the points obtained during the regular season prior to the start of the championship playoff. This rule had been subject to complaints from several teams that had been leading after the regular season in recent seasons. The third rule was introduced to prevent players from intentionally receiving yellow cards near the end of the regular season. This tactic aimed to ensure they would be suspended before the playoffs, particularly against weaker teams, allowing them to start the deciding playoffs with a clean disciplinary record.

• Cercle Brugge and Lierse were relegated. Cercle Brugge after losing the relegation playoff series against Lierse, while Lierse lost the promotion playoff.
• Sint-Truiden was promoted as 2014–15 Belgian Second Division champions.
• OH Leuven who won the promotion playoff and returned to the Belgian Pro League just one season after their relegation.

Anderlecht

Club Brugge

Charleroi

Genk

K.A.A. Gent

Kortrijk

Standard Liège

OH Leuven

Lokeren

Mechelen

Oostende

Mouscron-Péruwelz

Sint-Truiden

Westerlo

W.-Beveren

Zulte Waregem

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Location of the 2015–16 Belgian Pro League teams

Club	Manager	Captain	Kit Manufacturer	Sponsors
Anderlecht	Besnik Hasi	Silvio Proto	adidas	BNP Paribas Fortis
Charleroi	Felice Mazzu	Francisco Martos	MAPS	Proximus
Club Brugge	Michel Preud'homme	Timmy Simons	Nike	Daikin
Genk	Peter Maes	Thomas Buffel	Nike	Beobank
Gent	Hein Vanhaezebrouck	Sven Kums	Jartazi	VDK Spaarbank
Kortrijk	Karim Belhocine	Nebojša Pavlović	Jako	AGO Jobs & HR
Lokeren	Georges Leekens	Killian Overmeire	Jartazi	QTeam
Mechelen	Aleksandar Janković	Steven De Petter	Kappa	Telenet
Mouscron-Péruwelz	Glen De Boeck	Noë Dussenne	Patrick	Trba
Oostende	Yves Vanderhaeghe	Sébastien Siani	Joma	Willems Veranda's
OH Leuven	Emilio Ferrera	Romain Reynaud	Vermarc	Just Eat
Sint-Truiden	Chris O'Loughlin	Rob Schoofs	Kappa	Golden Palace
Standard Liège	Yannick Ferrera	Adrien Trebel	Kappa	BASE
Waasland-Beveren	Stijn Vreven	Miloš Marić	Kappa	Aims Tools Star Casino
Westerlo	Bob Peeters	Filip Daems	Saller	Soudal
Zulte-Waregem	Francky Dury	Mbaye Leye	Patrick	Record Bank

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Waasland-Beveren	Guido Brepoels	Contract not prolonged	End of 2014–15 season[4]	Pre-season	Stijn Vreven	29 April 2015[5]
Oostende	Frederik Vanderbiest	Replaced by Vanderhaeghe	End of 2014–15 season[6]		Yves Vanderhaeghe	11 May 2015[7]
Genk	Alex McLeish	Resigned	End of 2014–15 season[8]		Peter Maes	26 May 2015[9]
Kortrijk	Yves Vanderhaeghe	Signed by Oostende	End of 2014–15 season[7]		Johan Walem	29 May 2015[10]
Lokeren	Peter Maes	Signed by Genk	End of 2014–15 season[9]		Bob Peeters	3 June 2015[11]
Mouscron-Péruwelz	Fernando Da Cruz	Contract not prolonged	End of 2014–15 season[12]		Čedomir Janevski	4 June 2015[12]
Standard Liège	José Riga	Resigned	End of 2014–15 season[13]		Slavoljub Muslin	5 June 2015[14]
Standard Liège	Slavoljub Muslin	Sacked	28 August 2015[15]	8th	Éric Deflandre (caretaker)	28 August 2015[15]
Standard Liège	Éric Deflandre (caretaker)	Caretaker replaced	7 September 2015[16]	11th	Yannick Ferrera	7 September 2015[16]
Sint-Truiden	Yannick Ferrera	Signed by Standard Liège	7 September 2015[16]	5th	Chris O'Loughlin	8 September 2015[17]
Lokeren	Bob Peeters	Sacked	24 October 2015[18]	14th	Georges Leekens	25 October 2015[19]
OH Leuven	Jacky Mathijssen	Sacked	24 November 2015[20]	15th	Emilio Ferrera	26 November 2015[21]
Westerlo	Harm van Veldhoven	Sacked	25 November 2015[22]	16th	Bob Peeters	26 November 2015[23]
Mouscron-Péruwelz	Čedomir Janevski	Sacked	19 January 2016[24]	15th	Glen De Boeck	20 January 2016[25]
Kortrijk	Johan Walem	Sacked	8 February 2016[26]	9th	Karim Belhocine	8 February 2016[26]
Kortrijk	Karim Belhocine	Becomes technical director	1 April 2016[27]	9th	Patrick De Wilde	1 April 2016[27]

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.^[29] These matches were played on 22 and 23 December, between matchdays 20 and 21.^[30]

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.

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.

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.

The winners of both playoff groups compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs, called 2015–16 Belgian Pro League#Play off final. The winner of this Testmatch was granted an entry to the second qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

13 May 2016 (2016-5-13)

20:30

Charleroi	1–0	Kortrijk
Perbet 90'	Report

Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi

Attendance: 7,038

Referee: Alexandre Boucaut

21 May 2016 (2016-5-21)

20:00

Kortrijk	1–2	Charleroi
Sarr 74'	Report	Perbet 53' Baby 90+4'

Guldensporen Stadion, Kortrijk

Attendance: 7,100

Referee: Serge Gumienny

Charleroi won 3–1 on aggregate.

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.

26 May 2016 (2016-5-26)

20:30

Charleroi	2–0	Genk
Baby 43' Perbet 50'	Report

Stade du Pays de Charleroi, Charleroi

Attendance: 8,733

Referee: Erik Lambrechts

29 May 2016 (2016-5-29)

14:30

Genk	5–1	Charleroi
Karelis 20' (pen.), 56', 71' Samatta 27' Walsh 45+3'	Report	Perbet 40'

Cristal Arena, Genk

Attendance: 14,635

Referee: Wim Smet

Genk won 5–3 on aggregate.

Top scorers As of matches played on 7 May 2016.[34] Rank Player Club Goals 1 Jérémy Perbet Charleroi 20 2 Mbaye Leye Zulte Waregem 18 3 Sofiane Hanni Mechelen 17 4 Stefano Okaka Anderlecht 14 5 Cyriac Oostende 13 Laurent Depoitre Gent Abdoulay Diaby Club Brugge Frédéric Gounongbe Westerlo Sven Kums Gent Jelle Vossen Club Brugge

Top assists As of matches played on 8 April 2016.[35] Rank Player Club Assists 1 Onur Kaya Zulte Waregem 12 2 Mathieu Dossevi Standard Liège 10 3 Thibault Moulin Waasland-Beveren 9 4 Leon Bailey Genk 7 Sofiane Hanni Mechelen Danijel Milićević Gent Ayanda Patosi Lokeren 8 Franck Berrier Oostende 6 Steven Defour Anderlecht Anthony Knockaert Standard Liège Jordan Lukaku Oostende Tim Matthys Mechelen Dennis Praet Anderlecht Jordan Remacle OH Leuven Clément Tainmont Charleroi Leandro Trossard OH Leuven

Player	For	Against	Goals	Match Result	Date
Igor de Camargo	Genk*	OH Leuven	26' (1–0), 81' (3–1)	3–1	25 July 2015
Maxime Chanot	Kortrijk*	Standard Liège	40' (1–0), 64' (2–1)	2–1	25 July 2015
Jovan Kostovski	OH Leuven	Westerlo*	21' (0–1), 78' (3–2)	3–2	8 August 2015
Knowledge Musona	Oostende*	Anderlecht	3' (1–0), 89' (3–1, pen.)	3–1	16 August 2015
Steeven Langil	Waasland-Beveren*	Mouscron-Péruwelz	6' (1–0), 90+2' (3–3)	3–3	22 August 2015
Laurent Depoitre	Gent*	Mechelen	49' (1–1), 90+3' (2–2)	2–2	29 August 2015
Christophe Lepoint	Zulte Waregem	Oostende*	42' (0–1), 68' (0–2)	0–2	29 August 2015
Abdoulay Diaby 4	Club Brugge*	Standard Liège	8' (1–0), 37' (4–1), 77' (6–1), 90+1' (7–1)	7–1	30 August 2015
Cyriac 3	Oostende	Waasland-Beveren*	34' (0–2, pen.), 48' (0–3), 52' (0–4)	1–5	12 September 2015
Thomas Matton	Gent*	Standard Liège	62' (3–1), 90' (4–1)	4–1	20 September 2015
Tuur Dierckx	Club Brugge*	Waasland-Beveren	40' (1–0), 46' (3–0)	5–1	20 September 2015
Mbaye Leye	Zulte Waregem*	Westerlo	42' (2–1), 49' (3–1, pen.)	4–2	25 September 2015
Sven Kums 3	Gent*	Club Brugge	15' (1–0, pen.), 51' (2–0, pen.), 62' (3–0)	4–1	4 October 2015
Benjamin De Ceulaer	Westerlo	Standard Liège*	9' (0–1), 44' (0–2)	1–2	17 October 2015
Yohan Croizet	OH Leuven	Lokeren*	3' (0–1), 73' (0–2)	1–2	17 October 2015
Stefano Okaka	Anderlecht	Zulte Waregem*	14' (0–1), 52' (0–3)	0–4	18 October 2015
Sofiane Hanni	Mechelen*	Zulte Waregem	35' (2–1), 66' (3–3)	3–4	24 October 2015
Mame Thiam	Zulte Waregem	Mechelen*	16' (1–1), 70' (3–4)	3–4	24 October 2015
Yohan Boli	Sint-Truiden*	Kortrijk	48' (1–1), 52' (2–1)	2–1	25 October 2015
Fernando Canesin	Oostende*	Genk	27' (1–0), 35' (2–0)	3–2	27 October 2015
Abdoulay Diaby	Club Brugge*	OH Leuven	41' (1–0), 69' (2–0)	2–0	28 October 2015
Andy Najar	Anderlecht*	Mouscron-Péruwelz	51' (1–0), 90+3' (2–0)	2–0	1 November 2015
Frédéric Gounongbe	Westerlo	Waasland-Beveren*	43' (0–1), 58' (0–2)	2–2	7 November 2015
Jérémy Perbet	Charleroi	Gent*	23' (0–1), 61' (1–3)	1–3	8 November 2015
Sven Kums	Gent*	Westerlo	68' (4–0, pen.), 77' (5–0)	5–0	20 November 2015
Idrissa Sylla	Anderlecht*	OH Leuven	39' (2–1), 68' (3–2)	3–2	29 November 2015
Jelle Vossen	Club Brugge	Mechelen*	66' (1–1), 73' (1–2)	1–4	29 November 2015
Jovan Kostovski	OH Leuven*	Westerlo	9' (1–0), 24' (2–0)	5–1	5 December 2015
Marko Šćepović	Mouscron-Péruwelz	Kortrijk*	15' (0–1), 84' (1–3)	1–3	12 December 2015
Frédéric Gounongbe	Westerlo*	Charleroi	41' (1–1), 70' (2–1, pen.)	2–1	19 December 2015
Dennis Praet	Anderlecht	Club Brugge*	35' (0–2), 90+3' (1–4)	1–4	20 December 2015
Knowledge Musona	Oostende*	Standard Liège	31' (2–1), 50' (3–1)	4–1	20 December 2015
Laurent Depoitre	Gent*	Anderlecht	10' (1–0), 89' (2–0)	2–0	17 January 2016
Ivan Santini	Standard Liège	Lokeren*	56' (0–1), 65' (0–2)	0–2	17 January 2016
Siebe Schrijvers	Waasland-Beveren	Oostende*	7' (0–1), 17' (1–2)	3–3	17 January 2016
Lior Refaelov	Club Brugge*	Lokeren	12' (1–1), 28' (2–1)	2–1	31 January 2016
Frank Acheampong	Anderlecht	Mechelen*	18' (1–1), 70' (1–2)	2–2	5 February 2016
Nick Proschwitz	Sint-Truiden	Standard Liège*	43' (1–1), 60' (1–2)	1–2	7 February 2016
Nikos Karelis	Genk*	Waasland-Beveren	9' (1–0), 26' (2–1, pen.)	6–1	13 February 2016
Hans Vanaken	Club Brugge*	Westerlo	25' (2–0), 71' (4–0)	6–0	19 February 2016
Thanasis Papazoglou	Kortrijk*	Sint-Truiden	17' (1–0), 51' (3–0)	3–0	20 February 2016
Anice Badri	Mouscron-Péruwelz*	OH Leuven	88' (2–1), 90+3' (3–1)	3–1	20 February 2016
Michiel Jonckheere	Oostende*	Gent	13' (1–1), 54' (4–2)	5–2	21 February 2016
John Bostock	OH Leuven*	Oostende	27' (1–0, pen.), 56' (3–0)	4–1	27 February 2016
Yohan Croizet	OH Leuven*	Oostende	29' (2–0), 59' (4–0)	4–1	27 February 2016
Thibault Moulin	Waasland-Beveren	Charleroi*	48' (1–1, pen.), 90+3' (2–3, pen.)	2–3	28 February 2016
Cyriac	Oostende*	Charleroi	77' (1–1), 83' (2–1, pen.)	2–1	5 March 2016
Nicolas Verdier	Mechelen*	Standard Liège	15' (2–0), 42' (3–0)	4–0	13 March 2016
Sofiane Hanni	Mechelen*	Standard Liège	12' (1–0), 78' (4–0)	4–0	13 March 2016
Sofiane Hanni	Mechelen*	Charleroi	77' (1–3), 85' (2–3, pen.)	2–3	16 April 2016
Jelle Vossen	Club Brugge*	Zulte Waregem	75' (4–0), 86' (5–0)	5–0	23 April 2016
Hervé Kage	Kortrijk*	Waasland-Beveren	28' (2–0), 37' (4–0, pen.)	5–0	23 April 2016
Jérémy Perbet	Charleroi*	Mechelen	25' (2–0), 81' (4–0)	4–0	23 April 2016
Yassine El Ghanassy	Oostende*	Anderlecht	45+1' (3–0), 81' (4–1)	4–2	24 April 2016
Hamdi Harbaoui	Lokeren	Charleroi*	6' (0–1), 8' (0–2)	2–2	29 April 2016
Jérémy Perbet	Charleroi*	Lokeren	12' (1–2), 90+4' (2–2)	2–2	29 April 2016
Hervé Kage	Kortrijk	Mouscron-Péruwelz*	52' (1–1), 73' (1–2)	2–3	7 May 2016
Julian Michel	Mouscron-Péruwelz*	Kortrijk	4' (1–0), 83' (2–2)	2–3	7 May 2016
Hamdi Harbaoui 4	Lokeren*	Mechelen	25' (1–0), 53' (3–0), 73' (4–1), 83' (5–1)	5–1	7 May 2016