2016–17 Belgian First Division A
The 2016–17 season of the Belgian First Division A was the 114th season of top-tier football in Belgium and the first following the structural changes in the Belgian football pyramid, reducing the number of professional teams to 24. It began on 29 July 2016 and finished on 31 May 2017. The fixtures were announced on 8 June 2016. Club Brugge were the defending champions but had to settle for second place with Anderlecht taking their 34th title.
Team changes
- OH Leuven was relegated after finishing last in the 2015–16 Belgian Pro League.
- Due to the fact that 2015–16 Belgian Second Division champions WS Brussels were refused a Belgian professional football license, Eupen was promoted as runner-up instead.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
| Matricule | Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| 35 | Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 21,000 | |
| 22 | Charleroi | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | 14,000 | |
| 3 | Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,042 | |
| 4276 | Eupen | Kehrweg Stadion | 8,363 | |
| 322 | Genk | Cristal Arena | 24,956 | |
| 7 | Ghent | Ghelamco Arena | 19,999 | |
| 19 | Kortrijk | Guldensporen Stadion | 9,399 | |
| 282 | Lokeren | Daknamstadion | 9,560 | |
| 25 | Mechelen | AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne | 13,213 | |
| 216 | Mouscron | Stade Le Canonnier | 10,571 | |
| 31 | Ostend | Versluys Arena | 8,432 | |
| 373 | Sint-Truiden | Stayen | 14,600 | |
| 16 | Liège | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | 28,278 | |
| 4068 | Beveren | Freethiel Stadion | 8,190 | |
| 2024 | Westerlo | Het Kuipje | 8,035 | |
| 5381 | Waregem | Regenboogstadion | 9,540 |
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
Regular season
League table
Results
Championship play-offs
The points obtained during the regular season were halved before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Anderlecht 31 points, Club Brugge 30, Zulte Waregem 27, Gent 25, Oostende 25 and Charleroi 25. The points of Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Charleroi were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted for these teams.League table
Europa League play-offs
Group A of the play-offs consisted of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2016–17 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 joined the second placed qualifier from the 2016–17 Belgian First Division B to form group B.Group A
Group B
Semi-final
The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match was played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. The winner of the semi-final advanced to the final to play for a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League.Final
The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed team played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. KV Oostende qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, where they were eliminated by Olympique Marseille.Season statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 |  Henry Onyekuru | Eupen | 22 |
| 1 |  Łukasz Teodorczyk | Anderlecht | 22 |
| 3 |  Orlando Sá | Standard | 17 |
| 4 |  Mbaye Leye | Zulte Waregem | 16 |
| 4 |  Idriss Saadi | Kortrijk | 16 |
| 4 |  Jelle Vossen | Club Brugge | 16 |
| 7 | Ishak Belfodil | Standard | 14 |
| 7 | Pieter Gerkens | Sint-Truiden | 14 |
| 7 |  José Izquierdo | Club Brugge | 14 |
| 10 | Youri Tielemans | Anderlecht | 13 |
Top assists
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 |  Alejandro Pozuelo | Genk | 11 |
| 1 | Youri Tielemans | Anderlecht | 11 |
| 1 | Siebe Schrijvers | Waasland-Beveren/Genk | 11 |
| 4 | Sofiane Hanni | Anderlecht | 10 |
| 4 | Stef Peeters | Sint-Truiden | 10 |
| 6 | Onur Kaya | Zulte Waregem | 9 |
| 7 |  Alexandru Chipciu | Anderlecht | 8 |
| 7 | Mamadou Sylla | Eupen | 8 |
| 7 |  Fernando Canesin | Oostende | 8 |
| 10 |  Ruud Vormer | Club Brugge | 7 |
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 |  Ludovic Butelle | Club Brugge | 12 |
| 2 | Colin Coosemans | Mechelen | 9 |
| 2 | Nicolas Penneteau | Charleroi | 9 |
| 4 | Jean-François Gillet | Standard | 8 |
| 5 | Marco Bizot | Genk | 7 |
| 6 | Frank Boeckx | Anderlecht | 6 |
| 6 | Sammy Bossut | Zulte Waregem | 6 |
| 6 |  Copa | Lokeren | 6 |
| 6 | Koen Van Langendonck | Westerlo | 6 |
| 10 | William Dutoit | Sint-Truiden & Oostende | 5 |
| 10 |  László Köteles | Waasland-Beveren | 5 |
| 10 |  Anthony Moris | Mechelen | 5 |
| 10 | Davy Roef | Anderlecht | 5 |
| 10 | Yannick Thoelen | Gent | 5 |
Number of teams by provinces
Attendances
Football clubs with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:| Team | Home average |
| Club Brugge | 26,691 |
| Standard de Liège | 21,802 |
| KAA Gent | 19,807 |
| RSC Anderlecht | 18,333 |
| KRC Genk | 16,104 |
| KV Mechelen | 11,991 |