Belgian_football_league_system

Belgian football league system

Belgian football league system

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The Belgian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Belgium.

Men's system

The league system underwent restructuring which was approved by the Royal Belgian Football Association. One important step was the introduction of a national fifth level for the first time. Its implementation took effect as of the 2016–17 season.[1] Changes since 2016:

  • From the 2020–21 season on:
    • the third, fourth and fifth level were renamed due to the negative connotation of the word Amateur. The First Amateur Division, Second Amateur Division and Third Amateur Division were rebranded respectively as National Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3.
    • the First Division B no longer involved all eight teams playing two separate round-robin competitions with the two winners playing off for the title, but rather involved all teams playing each other four times.
  • Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belgian First Division A was expanded temporarily from 16 to 18 teams.
  • From the 2022–23 season, the two highest leagues were renamed, from First Division A and First Division B to Pro League and Challenger Pro League respectively. Furthermore, the Challenger Pro League expanded to 12 teams and now included as well four U23-teams. Also in the National Division 1 and Division 2 U23 teams were added.
  • The Pro League again reverted to 16 teams from the 2023–24 season, with a new playoff system similar to the pre-COVID period, but most importantly now with two teams directly relegating and a third one playing a play-off to avoid it. The Challenger Pro League expands to 16 teams.
  • From the 2024–25 season, the highest non-professional level (Belgian National Division 1) was split into two separate divisions, one for VV and ACFF each, with the number of clubs expanding from 18 to 28 (16 VV + 12 ACFF).
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Pre-2016 structure

Until the end of the 2015–16 season, the structure was as follows. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which often differs radically from its official name) and number of clubs is given. The winner(s) of each division promoted to the division(s) directly above them and relegated to the division(s) that lie directly below them.

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Men's league historical timeline

The timeline below lists the evolution of the men's tiers and leagues related to the Belgian FA since 1895. The provincial leagues often span multiple tiers.

Women's system

From 2012/13 to 2014/15 the top teams played in the BeNe League, a joint league with clubs from the Netherlands. The Super League was created in 2015.[2]

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References

  1. [1]
    "LA RÉFORME DU FOOT BELGE À PARTIR DE LA SAISON 2016-2017 APPROUVÉE: VOICI À QUOI VA RESSEMBLER LE PAYSAGE FOOTBALLISTIQUE BELGE". sudinfo.be (in French). 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. [2]
    "Vrouwenvoetbal.be". www.vrouwenteam.be. Archived from the original on 2015-04-18.
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