2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League

The 2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League is the 37th season of top-tier football in Zimbabwe. The season began on 1 April 2016 when How Mine took on newly promoted Bulawayo City at White City Stadium. CAPS United won their fifth league championship and first in 11 years.^[2]

Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League

Season	2016
Champions	CAPS United
Relegated	Border Strikers Chapungu United Mutare City Tsholotsho
2017 CAF Champions League	CAPS United
Matches played	240
Goals scored	450 (1.88 per match)
Top goalscorer	Leonard Tsipa (11)
Biggest home win	12 matches Chicken Inn 3−0 Dynamos (2 April 2016) CAPS United 3−0 Chapungu United (3 April 2016) Harare City 4−1 Mutare City (8 April 2016) Harare City 4−1 Hwange (30 April 2016) Platinum 3−0 Border Strikers (21 May 2016) Tsholotsho 3-0 Hwange (16 July 2016) CAPS United 4-1 Mutare City (27 August 2016) Chapungu United 3-0 Border Strikers (27 August 2016) Mutare City 3-0 Border Strikers (15 October 2016) Ngezi Platinum 3-0 Hwange (29 October 2016) Platinum 3−0 Highlanders (20 November 2016) Highlanders 3-0 Hwange (26 November 2016)
Biggest away win	4 matches Mutare City 0−3 Ngezi Platinum (2 April 2016) Hwange 0−3 Highlanders (3 April 2016) Ngezi Platinum 1−4 Highlanders (14 May 2016) Tsholotsho 0-3 Platinum (26 November 2016)
Highest scoring	Hwange 5-3 Triangle United (28 August 2016)
Longest winning run	Highlanders (7)
Longest unbeaten run	Platinum (12)
Longest winless run	Border Strikers (10)
Longest losing run	Border Strikers (7)
Average attendance	920^[1] (441,608 total attendance)
← 2015 2017 → All statistics correct as of 26 November 2016.

Attendances

Highlanders F.C. drew the highest average home attendance in the league in 2016, with an average attendance of 5,614. The previous year, they drew an average home attendance of 7,276 for domestic league games. The league's average attendance in 2016 was 920^[1] (441,608 total attendance).

Teams

A total of 16 teams are contesting the league, including 12 sides from the 2015 season and four promoted from the 2015 Zimbabwe Division 1, Border Strikers, Bulawayo City, Mutare City Rovers and Ngezi Platinum. On the other hand, Buffaloes, Dongo Sawmills, Flame Lilly and Wha Wha were the last four teams of the 2015 season and will play in the Zimbabwe Division 1 for the 2016 season.^[3] Chicken Inn are the defending champions from the 2015 season.

Stadiums and locations

 

 

Strikers

 

CAPS

 

Chicken

 

Dynamos
Harare City

 

Highlanders

 

Bulawayo
How Mine
Tsholotsho

 

Hwange Colliery

 

ZPC Kariba

 

Mutare

 

Ngezi

 

Platinum

 

Triangle

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the 2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2015 season
Border Strikers	Beitbridge	Dulivhadzimu Stadium	32,000	Zimbabwe Division 1
Bulawayo City	Bulawayo	Barbourfields Stadium		Zimbabwe Division 1
CAPS United	Harare	National Sports Stadium	60,000	5th in Premier League
Chapungu United	Gweru	Ascot Stadium	5,000	9th in Premier League
Chicken Inn	Bulawayo	Luveve Stadium	8,000	Premier League Champions
Dynamos	Harare	Rufaro Stadium	35,000	2nd in Premier League
Harare City	Harare	Rufaro Stadium	35,000	7th in Premier League
Highlanders	Bulawayo	Barbourfields Stadium	32,000	6th in Premier League
How Mine	Bulawayo	White City Stadium	20,000	11th in Premier League
Hwange Colliery	Hwange	Colliery Stadium	15,000	8th in Premier League
ZPC Kariba	Harare	Gwanzura	10,000	10th in Premier League
Mutare City Rovers	Mutare	Sakubva Stadium	20,000	Zimbabwe Division 1
Ngezi Platinum	Ngezi	Baobab Stadium	10,000	Zimbabwe Division 1
Platinum	Zvishavane	Mandava Stadium	3,000	3rd in Premier League
Triangle United	Chiredzi	Gibbo Stadium	3,000	4th in Premier League
Tsholotsho	Beitbridge	Dulivhadzimu Stadium	32,000	12th in Premier League

Results

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	CAPS United (C, Q)	30	18	9	3	42	21	+21	63	2017 CAF Champions League
2	Platinum	30	17	10	3	38	15	+23	61
3	Highlanders	30	17	5	8	41	24	+17	56
4	Chicken Inn	30	13	8	9	31	20	+11	47
5	Dynamos	30	12	10	8	29	24	+5	46
6	Kariba	30	11	12	7	23	21	+2	45
7	Ngezi Platinum	30	11	8	11	29	27	+2	41
8	Bulawayo City	30	11	8	11	27	27	0	41
9	Harare City	30	11	6	13	32	29	+3	39
10	How Mine	30	9	12	9	27	25	+2	39
11	Triangle United	30	10	8	12	27	32	−5	38
12	Hwange	30	9	9	12	24	35	−11	36
13	Chapungu United (R)	30	7	11	12	21	27	−6	32	Relegation to 2017 Zimbabwe Division 1
14	Tsholotsho (R)	30	7	5	18	23	37	−14	26
15	Mutare City (R)	30	7	8	15	25	44	−19	26^[a]
16	Border Strikers (R)	30	4	3	23	10	41	−31	15

Updated to match(es) played on 26 November 2016. Source:
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 goals scored; 7) head-to-head away goals
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Mutare City were docked 3 points for playing ineligible player Kudakwashe Gurure.^[4]

Result table

All teams play in a double round robin system (home and away).

Home \ Away	BOR	BUL	CAP	CHA	CHI	DYN	HAR	HIG	HOW	HWA	KAR	MUT	NGE	PLA	TRI	TSH
Border Strikers		0–1	1–3	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–2	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–1	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0
Bulawayo City	1–0		3–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–1
CAPS United	1–0	2–1		3–0	1–0	3–3	2–1	1–0	3–2	1–1	2–2	4–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–0
Chapungu United	3–0	0–0	0–1		2–1	1–2	2–1	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–1
Chicken Inn	1–0	0–1	1–2	0–0		3–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–0
Dynamos	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–3		2–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	0–0	2–0
Harare City	2–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	0–2		0–1	0–0	4–1	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	0–1
Highlanders	2–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1		2–0	3–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	0–0	1–2
How Mine	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–2		2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–2
Hwange	2–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–3	2–0		1–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	5–3	1–0
Kariba	2–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	1–0		2–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–0
Mutare City	3–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–3	1–2	2–2	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–0		0–3	1–2	2–0	3–3
Ngezi Platinum	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	1–4	0–2	3–0	1–0	2–0		0–1	3–1	1–1
Platinum	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1		2–0	2–1
Triangle United	1–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	3–1	0–0	1–2		1–0
Tsholotsho	1–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–2	1–1	0–2	0–3	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on 26 November 2016. Source: soccerway.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

	Leader
	Relegation to Zimbabwe Division 1

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
CAPS United	1	3	2	2	1	3	3	3	2	1	2	3	3	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Platinum	6	2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	4	3	2	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	2	2
Highlanders	1	7	5	4	3	2	2	2	4	3	1	1	2	2	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3
Chicken Inn	1	1	3	5	9	8	7	8	10	11	10	7	7	9	10	7	10	10	11	9	8	7	7	6	6	7	6	5	5	4
Dynamos	13	13	9	12	12	15	12	12	9	8	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	4	5	5	5	4	5	5	5	4	4	5
Kariba	5	9	8	6	5	5	4	4	3	2	4	4	5	5	5	5	6	7	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	6	6	6
Ngezi Platinum	1	4	7	9	8	10	11	11	12	13	13	12	9	10	7	8	5	6	9	11	12	12	10	7	9	9	9	8	9	7
Bulawayo City	8	12	14	13	10	9	10	7	6	7	9	11	8	7	9	12	9	9	10	8	10	8	8	11	10	8	10	9	7	8
Harare City	11	7	10	8	7	7	9	10	8	6	7	8	10	8	8	10	8	11	8	10	7	6	6	9	7	6	7	7	8	9
How Mine	9	5	6	3	4	4	6	6	7	9	8	10	11	12	11	11	13	8	7	7	9	10	12	10	11	11	8	10	10	10
Triangle United	7	6	4	7	6	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	5	4	6	6	9	11	8	8	10	12	11	12	11
Hwange	13	15	13	14	15	12	8	9	11	10	11	9	13	11	13	9	12	13	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	11	12	11	12
Chapungu United	13	11	12	11	14	14	14	13	14	12	12	13	12	13	12	13	11	12	13	12	11	11	9	12	12	13	13	13	13	13
Tsholotsho	10	9	11	10	13	11	13	14	13	14	15	15	15	15	14	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	14
Mutare City	13	16	16	14	11	13	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	15
Border Strikers	12	14	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Updated to match(es) played on 26 November 2016. Source: Soccerway

Season statistics

Goals

Top scorers

As of 26 November 2016

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Leonard Tsipa	CAPS United	11
2	Gift Mbweti	Hwange	9
	Walter Musona	Platinum	9
4	Obadiah Tarumbwa	Chicken Inn	8
5	Kuda Gurure	Mutare City	7
	Bruce Kangwa	Highlanders	7
	Agrippa Murimba	Mutare City	7
	Simba Nhivi	CAPS United	7
9	Masimba Mambare	Dynamos	6
10	Rodwell Chinyengetere	Platinum	5
	Dominic Chungwa	CAPS United	5
	Prince Dube	Highlanders	5
	William Manondo	Harare City	5
	Raphael Manuvire	Harare City	5
	Marvelous Mukumba	Triangle United	5
	Simon Munawa	Highlanders	5
	James Nguluve	Ngezi Platinum	5
	Donald Tegure	Ngezi Platinum	5
	Gilbert Zulu	Hwange	5

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Pascal Manhanga for How Mine against Bulawayo City^[5] (3 April 2016)

References

1. "Fans shun PSL matches - The Chronicle". www.chronicle.co.zw.
2. "Glory, Glory CAPS Utd! - The Standard". Retrieved 28 November 2016.
3. "Summary - Premier Soccer League - Zimbabwe - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Retrieved 28 November 2016.
4. "Survival blow for Mutare City - NewsDay Zimbabwe". Retrieved 28 November 2016.
5. "Four-goal thriller in season opener - NewsDay Zimbabwe". Retrieved 4 April 2016.