2016–17 Santiago Island League (North)
| Season | 2016-17 |
|---|---|
| Champions | AJAC da Calheta |
| Matches played | 132 |
| Goals scored | 385 (2.92 per match) |
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← 2015-16
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The 2016-17 Santiago Island League (North) season was the 16th competition of the second-tier football in the northern part of the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. Its started on 17 December 2015 and finished on 7 May 2016 and was shorter than last season. The tournament was organized by the Santiago North Regional Football Association (Associação Regional de Futebol de Santiago Norte, ARFSS). It was the first ever season without any group stage and would become the longest of any of the regional leagues in Cape Verde and the only that occurred as the following season became the same as the South Zone's. AJAC da Calheta won their first and only title after finishing a record breaking 48 points and a record 15 wins and competed in the national championships. It was one of the newest clubs to win their first titles of any island/regional league in the nation. Also it was the fourth straight time that a club competed for the first time at the nationals and Santiago North being the only one in the country to do so.
Varandinha was the defending team of the title. The club size reduced to 12 from 14 last season. The overall records were not broken this season, it featured 132 matches equivalent to the island's South Zone. Their result records became second in the region, overall being one of around eight behind Fogo and Santiago South. On the opposites, Juventus Assomada was relegated, a club who spent only a season in the Premier Division since the competition became two-tiers and was the club's 15th overall, União Picos, last placed became the fourth original club to be relegated.
Also it was the second season that featured the Second Division, and was the first with ten clubs, also equivalent to the island's South Zone
In early February, some of the referees were not paid for the 17th and 26th rounds of last season and the rounds of the season, it led the suspension of the regional competition on February 7 for two weeks. With the help of two major telecommunications companies, one of them Cabo Verde Telecom and its municipalities of where the clubs based, the referees were paid and the competition resumed on February 25.
In mid-April, AJAC was second place which was fallen from first, the club was picking up position, they were still second at the 21st round and at the final round won a match over Flor Jovem and the final results went into uncertainty.
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