2016–17 Football Superleague of Kosovo

The 2016–17 Football Superleague of Kosovo season, also known as the Vala Superleague of Kosovo for sponsorship reasons was the 18th^[A] season of top-tier football in Kosovo. The season began on 19 August 2016 and concluded on 28 May 2017; the relegation play-offs will follow. Feronikeli are the defending champions.

Football Superleague of Kosovo

Season	2016–17
Champions	Trepça'89 (1st title)
Relegated	Ferizaj Trepça Hajvalia
Champions League	Trepça'89
Europa League	Prishtina
Matches played	198
Goals scored	473 (2.39 per match)
Top goalscorer	Otto John (27 goals)
Biggest home win	Liria 9–1 Hajvalia (28 May 2017)
Biggest away win	Hajvalia 1–6 Besa (5 April 2017)
Highest scoring	Liria 9–1 Hajvalia (28 May 2017)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

A total of 12 teams are competing in the league: 10 sides from the 2015–16 season and two promoted from the Liga e Parë.

The 2016–17 season will be the first full season that the Football Federation of Kosovo will be a member of FIFA and UEFA. Qualification for the UEFA Champions League will be determined at the end of the season, pending re-evaluation of the league's adherence to UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations and stadium standards.

On 9 May 2017, Trepça'89 defeated Besa 2–0 away from home to clinch their first league title.^[1] Trepça'89 will participate in the first qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, the first team from Kosovo to participate in the competition.^[2]

Teams and stadiums

 

 

Prishtina

 

Llapi

 

Gjilan

 

Hajvalia

 

Drenica

 

Besa

 

Feronikeli

 

Ferizaj

 

Liria

 

Mitrovica

 

Mitrovica clubs:

 

Trepça'89
Trepça

 

Gjilan clubs:

 

Gjilani
Drita

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Locations of the 2016–17 Football Superleague of Kosovo teams

Istogu and Vushtrria were relegated after finishing the previous season in eleventh and twelfth-place respectively. They were replaced by the champions and runners-up of the 2015–16 Liga e Parë, Trepça and Ferizaj respectively.

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Club	Town	Stadium	Capacity
Besa	Peć	Shahin Haxhiislami	8,500
Drenica	Skenderaj	Bajram Aliu	3,000
Drita	Gjilan	Gjilan City Stadium^[B]	15,000
Ferizaj	Ferizaj	Ismet Shabani	2,000
Feronikeli	Glogovac	Rexhep Rexhepi	2,000
Gjilani	Gjilan	Gjilan City Stadium^[B]	15,000
Hajvalia	Hajvalia	Hajvalia Stadium	2,000
Liria	Prizren	Përparim Thaçi	15,000
Llapi	Podujevo	Zahir Pajaziti	8,000
Prishtina	Pristina	Agron Rama	16,200
Trepça	Mitrovica	Olympic Stadium Adem Jashari	18,000
Trepça'89	Mitrovica	Riza Lushta	12,000

Source:

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Trepça'89 (C)	33	24	5	4	72	24	+48	77	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Prishtina	33	22	6	5	46	18	+28	72	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
3	Llapi	33	21	5	7	44	30	+14	68
4	Feronikeli	33	20	5	8	61	27	+34	65
5	Gjilani	33	13	9	11	36	28	+8	48
6	Besa^[a]	33	13	8	12	42	39	+3	47
7	Drenica	33	10	10	13	37	47	−10	40
8	Liria	33	10	7	16	41	39	+2	37
9	Drita (O)	33	9	8	16	21	34	−13	35	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
10	Ferizaj (R)	33	6	13	14	24	36	−12	31
11	Trepça (R)	33	5	8	20	37	64	−27	23	Relegation to Liga e Parë
12	Hajvalia (R)	33	1	4	28	12	87	−75	7

Source: (in Albanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Head-to-head goals scored; 8) Play-offs (only if needed to decide champion or teams for relegation).^[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Besa would have qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round as the winners of the 2016–17 Kosovar Cup, but failed to obtain a UEFA license.^[4] As a result, the berth was given to the league runners-up, Prishtina.

Results

Each team plays three times against every other team, either twice at home and once away or once at home and twice away, for a total of 33 matches played each.

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	BES	DRE	DRI	FRZ	FRN	GJI	HAJ	LIR	LLA	PRI	TRE	T89
Besa	—	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	4–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–3
Drenica	1–1	—	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–3
Drita	1–1	2–1	—	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–0
Ferizaj	0–1	2–3	1–0	—	2–0	1–2	4–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–2	0–1
Feronikeli	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	—	1–0	6–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	5–1	4–1
Gjilani	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	—	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–2
Hajvalia	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–0	2–3	1–2	—	2–4	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–4
Liria	0–1	1–1	3–1	3–0	1–3	1–0	3–0	—	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–3
Llapi	3–2	1–0	1–0	0–0	0–3^[a]	1–0	3–1	2–0	—	0–0	2–1	2–0
Prishtina	2–0	6–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	3–1	—	2–1	0–2
Trepça	1–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	3–0	1–4	0–1	1–2	—	1–3
Trepça'89	2–1	4–0	1–0	4–1	0–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	6–1	—

Source: (in Albanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

1. Match awarded 3–0 to Feronikeli due to crowd violence.^[6]

Matches 23–33

Home \ Away	BES	DRE	DRI	FRZ	FRN	GJI	HAJ	LIR	LLA	PRI	TRE	T89
Besa	—	—	—	1–0	—	1–1	—	1–0	—	1–2	1–3	0–2
Drenica	3–1	—	2–0	—	—	—	4–0	—	—	1–3	—	0–0
Drita	2–0	—	—	2–1	—	—	2–0	—	—	1–3	—	0–2
Ferizaj	—	1–1	—	—	0–4	0–0	—	—	1–2	—	2–1	—
Feronikeli	4–1	1–3	0–0	—	—	—	6–0	1–1	—	1–2	—	—
Gjilani	—	4–1	0–1	—	1–0	—	3–0	2–0	1–1	—	—	—
Hajvalia	1–6	—	—	0–1	—	—	—	—	—	0–1	1–3	0–3
Liria	—	0–0	3–0^[a]	1–1	—	—	9–1	—	—	—	3–1	—
Llapi	2–0	4–1	2–0	—	2–0	—	2–0	2–0	—	—	—	—
Prishtina	—	—	—	1–0	—	1–0	—	3–1	1–2	—	2–1	1–0
Trepça	—	2–1	1–1	—	1–3	3–5	—	—	1–3	—	—	—
Trepça'89	—	—	—	0–0	0–3	5–2	—	2–0	8–1	—	3–1	—

Source: (in Albanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

1. Match awarded 3–0 to Liria due to crowd violence caused by the Drita fans; the match was abandoned in the 90th minute, with Liria leading 1–0.^[7]

Relegation play-offs

The ninth and tenth-placed teams, Drita and Ferizaj respectively, each paired off against the third and fourth-placed teams from the 2016–17 First Football League of Kosovo season, Vllaznia and Dukagjini respectively; the two winners will play in the top-flight next season. As with previous seasons, both play-offs were played on neutral ground.

3 June 2017 (2017-06-03)

16:00 CEST

Ferizaj	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Vllaznia
E. Kuka   108'		L. Ferati   97'
Penalties
B. Shabani   Q. Tërshana   M. Bushi   E. Kuka   Sh. Salihu	2–3	L. Ferati   F. Merovci   E. Bruti   Sh. Sulimani   L. Kallaba

Riza Lushta Stadium, Mitrovica

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Kreshnik Vula

Vllaznia were promoted to 2017–18 Football Superleague of Kosovo; Ferizaj were relegated to 2017–18 First Football League of Kosovo.

---

4 June 2017 (2017-06-04)

16:00 CEST

Dukagjini	1–2	Drita
E. Zallaj   35'		S. Zeneli   64' A. Shillova   90+1'

Riza Lushta Stadium, Mitrovica

Attendance: 1,000

Referee: Fatmir Tahiri

Drita retained their spot in 2017–18 Football Superleague of Kosovo; Dukagjini remained in 2017–18 First Football League of Kosovo.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of matches played on 28 May 2017.^[8]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Otto John	KF Trepça'89	27
2	Florent Hasani	KF Trepça'89	16
3	Granit Arifaj	KF Drenica	14
4	Basit Abdul Khalid	FC Prishtina	13
5	Betim Haxhimusa	KF Gjilani	11
	Qemail Elshani	KF Besa Pejë
6	Xhevdet Shabani	KF Besa Pejë	10
	Fiton Hajdari	KF Trepça'89
	Gauthier Mankenda	FC Prishtina
7	Florim Bërbatovci	KF Llapi	9
8	Hasan Hyseni	KF Trepça'89	8
	Labinot Osmani	KF Feronikeli
	Isa Eminhaziri	KF Gjilani
	Berat Hyseni	KF Llapi
	Shkëmbim Salihu	KF Ferizaj
	Mendurim Hoti	KF Feronikeli
9	Liridon Fetahaj	KF Liria	7
	Kreshnik Lushtaku	KF Drenica
	Mirlind Daku	KF Llapi

Notes and references

Notes

1. This season was the 18th season under the name Football Superleague of Kosovo, the 24th season of top-tier football and the 70th season of football in Kosovo overall.
2. The two teams, Drita and Gjilan, which use this stadium together with their fans, have named the stadium with different names. Drita and their fans call the stadium as Selami Osmani-Bezi Stadium, while Gjilan and their fans call the stadium as Agim Ramadani Stadium, but officially the stadium is called Gjilan City Stadium.^[3]

References

1. "Trepça'89 wins in Peja, secures first title in history". Football Federation of Kosovo. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
2. "Champions League: Kosovo champions to make competition debut - BBC Sport". BBC Online. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
3. "Çfarë emri duhet të ketë stadiumi i qytetit në Gjilan" [What should be the name of the city stadium in Gjilan]. RajoniPress (in Albanian). 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
4. [KFF: Besa will not benefit from UEFA, money Kosovo's Cup goes to Pristina]. almakos. 30 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
5. . Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
6. "Vendimet e Komisionit Disiplinor" [The decisions of the Disciplinary Committee]. Football Federation of Kosovo (in Albanian). 19 October 2016.
7. "Vendim për ndeshjen Liria-Drita" [Decision on Liria-Drita game]. Football Federation of Kosovo (in Albanian). 8 May 2017.
8. . Borozani.com (in Albanian). 28 May 2017. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

External links

• Official website (in Albanian)
• Kosovo Superliga 2018-01-21 at the Wayback Machine at Borozani