The 2015–16 Eerste Divisie, known as Jupiler League for sponsorship reasons, is the sixtieth season of

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as th ...

since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2015 with the first matches of the season and ended in May 2016 with the finals of the promotion/relegation play-offs, also involving the 16th- and 17th-placed teams from the

2015–16 Eredivisie The 2015–16 Eredivisie season was the 60th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. Defending champions PSV retained their title. Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league: the top 15 teams from the 2014–15 season ...

. This season was the last where promotion and relegation was optional. No club was relegated to the new third-tier division Tweede Divisie (Second Division). This change in the league system was approved in a

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

assembly in December 2014. Thus, the Topklasse and leagues below it were reduced by one level, and furthermore, promotion and relegation between the Eerste Divisie and Tweede Divisie became mandatory from 2016–17.

Teams

A total of 19 teams took part in the league.

2014–15 Eerste Divisie The 2014–15 Eerste Divisie, known as Jupiler League for sponsorship reasons, was the fifty-ninth season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2014 with the first matches of the season and will end in May 2015 ...

champion NEC gained promotion to the Eredivisie, and was replaced by

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

, which finished last in the

2014–15 Eredivisie The 2014–15 Eredivisie season was the 59th season of the Eredivisie since its establishment in 1955. On 18 April 2015, PSV were confirmed as champions of the season, thus ending the four-year reign of Ajax. Teams A total of 18 teams took part ...

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisi ...

and

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium ...

won the post-season playoff, and were replaced in the 2015–16 Eerste Divisie by

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Divi ...

and Go Ahead Eagles. No teams were relegated, but

Jong FC Twente Jong FC Twente (English: Young FC Twente) are the reserve team of FC Twente, a team from Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in t ...

voluntarily withdrew from the league.

Personnel and kits

League table

Results

Play-offs

Promotion/relegation play-offs

Ten teams, two from the Eredivisie and eight from the Eerste Divisie, play for two spots in the

2016–17 Eredivisie The 2016–17 Eredivisie season was the 61st season of the top-tier Dutch League Eredivisie since its establishment in 1956. The fixtures for this season were announced on 14 June 2016. Teams A total of 18 teams took part in the league: The b ...

, the remaining eight teams play in the

2016–17 Eerste Divisie The 2016–17 Eerste Divisie, known as Jupiler League for sponsorship reasons, was the sixty-first season of Eerste Divisie since its establishment in 1955. It began in August 2016 with the first matches of the season and ended in May 2017 with ...

. Key: * = Play-off winners, (a) = Wins because of

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

, (e) = Wins after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

in second leg, (p) = Wins after

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Eerste Divisie Eerste Divisie seasons Netherlands 2 2015–16 in Dutch football