2016 Myanmar National League
# 2016 Myanmar National League

The 2016 Myanmar National League, also known as the 2016 Ooredoo Myanmar National League, was the 7th season of the Myanmar National League, the top Burmese professional league for association football clubs since its founding in 2009.The transfer period for the 2016 season was from 1 November 2015 to 8 January 2016.

Yangon United began the season as defending champions of the 2015 Myanmar National League. Southern Myanmar and Horizon entered as the two promoted teams from the 2015 Myanmar National League 2. Horizon FC was promoted to the MNL for the first time.

The first half of the 2016 Ooredoo MNL was completely finished on 4 April, and the second half started on May 21. The half-season transfer window was opened from April 18 to May 17. After Week 12, the remaining matches were suspended for three weeks because of the Myanmar national football team's participation in the 2016 AYA Bank Cup. The matches resumed on 11 June from Week 13.

## First half-season review

At the half-season break, Yadanarbon led the 2016 MNL Ooredoo standing table with 29 points, followed by Hanthawaddy United with 21 points. The 2015 General Aung San Shield winners Ayeyawady United stood third with 20 points. Reigning MNL champions Yangon United only earned 19 points and grabbed the fourth place.

## Events

This season was the second Myanmar National League season to have had Ooredoo as the title sponsor, after the MFF and the Qatar-based telecom operator signed a US$1 million-a-year sponsorship contract on 10 January 2016.

## Teams

A total of 12 teams competed in the 2016 season: 10 sides from the 2015 season and two promoted teams from the 2015 Myanmar National League 2.

Manaw Myay and Nay Pyi Taw were relegated to the 2016 MNL-2 since they finished the 2015 season at the lowest positions. They were replaced by the two promoted teams from the 2015 MNL-2, champions Southern Myanmar and runners-up Horizon.

### Stadiums

| Club | Home City | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Ayeyawady United | Pathein | Ayar Stadium | 6,000 |
| Chin United | Hakha | Wammathu Maung Stadium* | 4,000 |
| Hanthawaddy United | Bago | Taungoo Stadium | 4,000 |
| Horizon | Yangon | Horizon Stadium* | - |
| Magwe | Magway | Magway Stadium* | 3,000 |
| Rakhine United | Sittwe | Weithali Stadium* | 5,000 |
| Shan United | Taunggyi | Taunggyi Stadium | 7,000 |
| Southern Myanmar | Mawlamyaing | Ramanya Stadium* | 15,000 |
| Yadanarbon | Mandalay | Bahtoo Stadium | 17,000 |
| Yangon United | Yangon | Yangon United Sports Complex | 3,500 |
| Zeyar Shwe Myay | Monywa | Monywa Stadium | 5,000 |
| Zwegapin United | Hpa-An | Hpa-An Stadium* | 3,000 |

(*) – not ready to play. MNL clubs that have not had their home stadia ready to host home matches currently use Aung San Stadium and Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon.

### Name changes

* Kanbawza FC renamed themselves to Shan United FC

### Personnel and sponsoring

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

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Ayeyawady United | Kyaw Lwin | Min Min Thu | Grand Sport | |
| Chin United | Soe Thein | Chit Su Moe | Adidas | |
| Hanthawaddy United | Ngwe Tun | Aung Zaw | FBT | |
| Horizon FC | Erdinç Pala | Nyi Nyi Tun | Cadenza | Horizon Int'l School |
| Magway | Kyi Lwin | Soe Min Naing | Grand Sport | |
| Rakhine United | Aung Zaw Myo | Andrey Coutinho | made by club | Up Energy drink |
| Shan United | Soe Myat Min | Win Min Htut | Grand Sport | Scania |
| Southern Myanmar FC | Mya Lwin | Pyae Phyo Aung | Adidas | Yuzana Group |
| Yadanarbon | René Desaeyere | Yan Paing | FBT | Alpine |
| Yangon United | Myo Min Tun | Khin Maung Lwin | Grand Sport | First National Insurance |
| Zeyar Shwe Myay | Fabiano Jose Costa Flora | Victor Coto Ortega | Grand Sport | |
| Zwegapin United | Aung Min Oo | Edésio Sérgio Ribeiro de Oliveira (Junior) | Made by Club | Htay Group |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Incoming manager |
| - | - | - | - |
| Yangon United | Emerson Alcântara | Sacked | Marjan Sekulovski |
| Shan United | Royter Moreira | Sacked | Soe Myat Min |
| Yangon United | Marjan Sekulovski | Sacked | Myo Min Tun |

### Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per MNL club. A team can use three foreign players on the field in each game, including a slot for a player from among AFC countries.

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Ayeyawady United | Abubakari Yakubu | Hanson Samuel | Christopher Chizoba | Nishihara Takumu |
| Chin United | Sackie Teah Doe | Morris Joshua Papuchu | Anderson Ebimo West | |
| Hanthawaddy United | Bamba Gaoussou | Melvin George | | |
| Horizon | Martin | Ernest Ekici | Idoko Sunday Matthew | |
| Magway | Sekou Sylla | Ronald Djam Kufoin | Micheal Henry Alloysius | |
| Shan United | Djawa Maximin | Gustavo | Patrick Kanyuka | |
| Southern Myanmar | Doumbouya Ibrahima | Ijezie Michael | Eze Chika Philip | |
| Rakhine United | Ndongo Philippe | Andrey Coutinho | Atapa Kazeem Adeolu | Brima Kamara |
| Yadanarbon | Keith Martu Nah | Kekere Moukailou | Williams | Keisuke Ogawa |
| Yangon United | Adilson | Luiz Fernando | Marcelo Fernandes | Kunihiro Yamashita |
| Zeyar Shwe Myay | Ouattara Ibrahim | Víctor Coto | Marcinho | Dedi Gusmawan |
| Zwekapin United | Junior | Patrick Asare | Clarke Clifford | Ken Matsumoto |

## Result

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Yadanarbon | 22 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 12 | +40 | 54 | Mekong Club Championship and AFC Champions League preliminary round 2 or AFC Cup group stage |
| 2 | Yangon United | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 40 | |
| 3 | Magwe | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 32 | 23 | +9 | 39 | AFC Cup group stage |
| 4 | Ayeyawady United | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 39 | 29 | +10 | 37 | |
| 5 | Shan United | 22 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 32 | 13 | +19 | 36 | |
| 6 | Zeyar Shwe Myay | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 29 | 20 | +9 | 36 | |
| 7 | Hanthawaddy United | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 31 | 32 | −1 | 30 | |
| 8 | Zwegapin United | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 28 | |
| 9 | Chin United | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 21 | 37 | −16 | 24 | |
| 10 | Rakhine United | 22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 29 | −11 | 17 | |
| 11 | Southern Myanmar United | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 46 | −32 | 14 | Relegation to MNL-2 |
| 12 | Horizon | 21 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 59 | −40 | 7 | Relegation to MNL-2 |

### Result table

| Home \ Away | AYA | CHU | HTU | HRZ | MAG | RUD | SUD | SMU | YAD | YGN | ZSM | ZKP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ayeyarwady United | | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Chin United | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 |
| Hanthawaddy United | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 3–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Horizon | 2–6 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–5 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Magway | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Rakhine United | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Shan United | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Southern Myanmar | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–5 | | 0–3 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–3 |
| Yadanarbon | 2–1 | 5–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Yangon United | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 6–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Zeyar Shwe Myay | 0–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 1–1 |
| Zwegabin United | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | |

## Matches

Fixtures and results of the Myanmar National League 2016 season.

## Top scorers

| No | Name | Club | Goal |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Win Naing Soe | Yadanarbon | 16 |
| 2 | Keith Martu Nah | Yadanarbon | 16 |
| 3 | Christopher Chizoba | Ayeyawady United | 16 |
| 4 | Kyaw Ko Ko | Yangon United | 13 |
| 5 | Andrey Coutinho | Rakhine United | 10 |
| 6 | Bamba Gaoussou | Hanthawaddy United | 10 |
| 7 | Sekou Sylla | Magwe | 9 |
| 8 | Soe Min Oo | Shan United | 9 |
| 9 | Aung Thu | Yadanarbon | 8 |
| 10 | Adilson | Yangon United | 9 |
| 11 | Takumu | Ayeyawady United | 9 |
| 12 | Ivan | Hanthawaddy United | 7 |
| 13 | Victor Coto Ortega | Zeyar Shwe Myay | 7 |
| 14 | Ken | Zwekapin United | 7 |
| 15 | Aung Kyaw Naing | Ayeyawady United | 6 |

## Clean Sheets

| No | Goalkeeper | Club | Matches |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Thiha Sithu | Shan United | 10 |
| 2 | Yan Aung Lin | Yadanarbon | 7 |
| 3 | Van Lal Hruaia | Ayeyawady United | 6 |
| 4 | Mung Htoi Aung | Chin United | 6 |
| 5 | Phyo Min Maung | Zeyar Shwe Myay | 5 |

## Awards

### Monthly awards

| Month | Coach of the Month | Coach of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Reference |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Month | Coach | Club | Player | Club | Reference |
| January | Ngwe Tun | Hanthawaddy United | Maung Maung Lwin | Hanthawaddy United | |
| February | Marjan Sekulovski | Yangon United | Keith Martu Nah | Yadanarbon | |
| March | René Desaeyere | Yadanarbon | Keith Martu Nah | Yadanarbon | |
| April | | | | | |
| May | | | | | |
| June | René Desaeyere | Yadanarbon | Marcio Gomes | Zeyar Shwe Myay | |
| July | U Kyi Lwin | Magwe | Kyaw Ko Ko | Yangon United | |
| August | Myo Min Tun | Yangon United | Win Naing Soe | Yadanarbon | |
