2016 Liberian First Division League

The 2016 Liberian First Division League (known as the LFA-Cellcom First Division League for sponsorship reasons)[1] is the 43rd season of the Liberian Premier League, the Liberian professional league for association football clubs, since the league's establishment in 1956.

LFA-Cellcom First Division
Season2015–16
Matches played5
Goals scored17 (3.4 per match)
Top goalscorerJunior Barshall
Justino Jackson
(2 goals)
Biggest away winKeitrace FC 0-4 BYC
(24 January 2016)
← 2015
All statistics correct as of 24 January 2016.
Note: Walkovers counted in matches played but not counted in goals scored.

The season was expected to start on Thursday 10 December 2015 but was postponed because some clubs had not completed the CAF Club Licensing criteria.[2] The season finally commenced on 23 January 2016.

Teams

A total of 10 teams are contesting the league, including seven sides from the 2015 season and three promoted from the 2015 Second Division League. On 20 & 27 September 2015, Mighty Dragons FC and ELWA United FC both earned promotion from the 2015 Second Division League after playing each other in a two-legged Second Division Championship Playoff with Mighty Dragons being crowned Second Division Champions after a 3-2 aggregate win.[3] Holder FC also claimed a promotion place, after defeating Mighty Blue Angels in the Promotion Playoff.[3]

The three teams replaced Jubilee FC, Aries FC, and MC Breweries who were relegated to the Second Division.

Two other First Division Clubs: I.E. and NPA Anchor were denied participation for the 2015-16 season due to their failure to meet the statutory requirements in the Club Licensing System.[4]

Stadia and locations
Locations of the 2015-16 First Division teams
Clubs Location stadium capacity
Barrack Young Controllers Monrovia The Blue Field 3,000
ELWA United Monrovia ATS 10,000
FC Fassell Monrovia ATS 10,000
Holder FC Monrovia ATS 10,000
Keitrace FC Monrovia ATS 10,000
LISCR F.C. Monrovia ATS 10,000
LPRC Oilers Monrovia ATS 10,000
Mighty Dragons FC Gbarnga Gbarnga Sports Stadium 2,000
Nimba United Mt. Barclay NorthStar Sports Stadium 1,000
Watanga F.C. Monrovia ATS 10,000

Personnel

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team Coach1
Barrack Young Controllers Cooper Sannor
ELWA United TBA TBA
FC Fassell Sam Chebli
Holder F.C. TBA TBA
Keitrace F.C. TBA TBA
LISCR FC Robert Lartey
LPRC Oilers Gabriel Johns
Mighty Dragons TBA TBA
Nimba United Kollie Korvey
Watanga F.C. TBA TBA

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Barrack Young Controllers (C) 20 15 4 1 44 12 +32 49 Qualification for 2017 CAF Champions League
2 FC Fassell 20 11 5 4 35 22 +13 38
3 Nimba United 20 9 5 6 27 22 +5 32
4 Watanga 20 7 8 5 30 22 +8 29
5 LISCR 20 7 6 7 28 22 +6 27
6 LPRC Oilers 20 5 9 6 18 19 −1 24
7 ELWA United 20 6 4 10 20 29 −9 22
8 Keitrace 20 6 5 9 24 33 −9 21[lower-alpha 1]
9 Mighty Dragons 19 5 4 10 18 39 −21 19 Relegation to LFA-Cellcom Second Division
10 NPA Anchors 20 3 9 8 16 24 −8 18
11 Holder 20 3 6 11 21 36 −15 15
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2016. Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion
Notes:
  1. 2 points deducted?

Winner of the 2015–16 Liberian FA Cup will qualify for the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.

Season statistics

Top scorers
As of matches played on 24 January 2016.[5]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Junior Barshall BYC FC 2
Justino Jackson Holder FC
3 Trokon Saykiameh ELWA United 1
Adetu Evanonye Nimba United
Mark Payne BYC FC
Dominic Jlateh LISCR FC
Chris Jackson LISCR FC
Kesselly Kamara FC Fassell
Abraham Kwateh Watanga FC
Kelvin Potis Watanga FC

Clean sheets
As of matches played on 24 January 2016.
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1 Mulbah Urey BYC FC 1
Samson Giddings FC Fassell

Discipline
As of matches played on 24 January 2016

Player
  • Most yellow cards: 1[6]
    • Patrick Jackson (LPRC Oilers)
    • Sholee Quiah (Nimba United)
    • Wilton Ninneh (Nimba United)
    • Saylee Swen (LPRC Oilers)
    • Trokon Zeon (LPRC Oilers)
  • Most red cards: 1[6]
    • Trokon Saykiameh (ELWA United)

Club
  • Most yellow cards: 3[7]
    • LPRC Oilers
  • Most red cards: 1[7]
    • ELWA United

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Coach of the Month Player of the Month Reference
Coach Club Player Club
January
February
March
April
May
June

References
  1. "LFA & Cellcom Renew Contract". LFA League. 22 October 2013.
  2. "2015/2016 LFA Cellcom League Postponed". LIBERIAFA. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. "Second Division Championship Playoff". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  4. "Five Clubs Appeals Rejected for the 2015-2016 LFA-Cellcom League Season". LIBERIAFA. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. "Cellcom First Division League Statistics – Top Scorers". Liberia FA. Liberia Football Association. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  6. "Cellcom First Division League - Most Yellow Cards". Liberia FA. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. "Cellcom First Division League - Most Red Cards". Liberia FA. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
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