The 2016 Umaglesi Liga was the 28th season of the Umaglesi Liga, the top-tier football league in Georgia. This season was unique and significant as it was a transitional, shortened league designed to switch the Georgian football calendar from an autumn-to-spring schedule to a spring-to-autumn schedule (calendar year format), effective from 2017. The league officially ran from August 2016 to December 2016.
Format and Structure: Unlike previous seasons, the 2016 Umaglesi Liga featured 14 teams divided into two groups of seven: the Red Group and the White Group. Each group played a double round-robin format, meaning each team played every other team in its group twice (home and away), for a total of 12 matches per team in the group stage.
Following the group stage, a playoff system was introduced:
- Championship Playoff: The top two teams from each group advanced to a championship playoff to determine the league winner and European qualification spots.
- Relegation Playoff: The bottom three teams from each group, along with the fifth-placed team from each group, participated in complex playoffs to determine which teams would remain in the top flight for the newly restructured 2017 Erovnuli Liga (which would feature only 10 teams).
Participating Teams: The 14 teams were divided as follows:
- Red Group: Chikhura Sachkhere, Dila Gori, Sioni Bolnisi, Kolkheti Poti, Lokomotivi Tbilisi, Samtredia, Shukura Kobuleti.
- White Group: Dinamo Batumi, Dinamo Tbilisi, Guria Lanchkhuti, Saburtalo Tbilisi, Samgurali Tskaltubo, Torpedo Kutaisi, Tskhinvali.
Season Highlights:
- Champions: FC Samtredia won their first-ever Georgian league title, marking a historic achievement for the club.
- European Qualification:
- Samtredia qualified for the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.
- Dinamo Batumi and Chikhura Sachkhere qualified for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. (Torpedo Kutaisi also qualified for Europa League as the Georgian Cup winners).
- Relegation and Restructuring: The transitional nature of the season led to significant changes for the 2017 season. Due to the reduction of the top division to 10 teams (renamed Erovnuli Liga), a large number of teams faced relegation or had to fight for their spots through playoffs, making the stakes very high for most clubs. Only the top five teams from the combined championship playoffs secured direct spots in the new Erovnuli Liga.
The 2016 Umaglesi Liga is remembered as a pivotal season in Georgian football, facilitating a major overhaul of the league structure and calendar.