2020-21_Belgian_First_Division_A

2020–21 Belgian First Division A

2020–21 Belgian First Division A

118th season of top-tier football in Belgium

The 2020–21 Belgian First Division A was the 118th season of top-tier football in Belgium. As part of a proposal by the Jupiler Pro League's board of directors accepted by the General Assembly on 15 May 2020, the 2020–21 season would involve shortened playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the top four teams would play for the title, while teams five through eight would play for the remaining ticket into Europe.[1] The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020.[2] Club Brugge successfully defended their title from the previous season, finishing level on points in the title play-offs with Racing Genk, as regular season runners-up Royal Antwerp's challenge faded.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

Waasland-Beveren were originally relegated to the Belgian First Division B, as they were the bottom-placed team when the 2019–20 Belgian First Division A stopped prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, following legal proceedings, they remained in the top-flight, and instead, the league was expanded to 18 teams, with both OH Leuven and Beerschot being promoted (normally only one of them would have gained promotion). Technically, under its current form and owners, Beerschot will make its debut in the top tier of Belgian football, although in reality two teams with the same identity have played at the top level: Beerschot VAC (81 seasons, last in 1990–91) and Beerschot AC (until its bankruptcy at the end of the 2012–13 season, and known as Germinal Beerschot from 1999 until 2011). OH Leuven returned to the top tier after an absence of four seasons, when they dropped to the last place on the ultimate matchday of the 2015–16 season.

Format change

With now 18 instead of 16 teams, the format has changed somewhat. While the season still starts with an initial round-robin phase in which all teams play each other twice, the end of season play-offs have been shortened temporarily and for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons only. The title playoffs will now only be played by the top four teams (instead of six) and the Europa play-offs will now be played by the teams finishing fifth through eight (instead of all teams finishing below 6th). As a result, for all teams finishing below 8th, the season will be over upon completion of the round-robin phase, with the team in last position being relegated. One exception is the team finishing in 17th position, as this team will play a promotion-relegation play off against the 2nd-place finisher in the 2020–21 Belgian First Division B, with the winner playing in the 2021–22 Belgian First Division A.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Locations of the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A teams
More information Matricule, Club ...

Number of teams by provinces

More information Number of teams, Province or region ...

Personnel and kits

More information Club, Manager ...

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

Team changes

Regular season

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away matches won; 6) Away goal difference; 7) Away goals scored; 8) Play-off.[40]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. The regular season winners will qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League if they do not qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League in the playoffs or for the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League through the 2020–21 Belgian Cup.
  2. Genk qualifies for at least the play-off round of the Europa League through winning the 2021 Belgian Cup.
  3. On 14 April 2021 news was released that both Excel Mouscron and Oostende had not received a Belgian professional football license for the coming season, a requirement to play at the top two levels of Belgian football. For Oostende, a lack of financial transparency, together with generally poor quality and incompleteness of the submitted report, was given as the main reason by the committee for not awarding a license, while Excel Mouscron was refused a license as besides insufficient transparency, the committee also questioned several cash flows and whether the club was creditworthy in general, also due to the fact that the wages for the months of February and March had not yet been paid at that point. For Excel Mouscron, it was already the sixth year running the license was (initially) refused, however, the club has appealed the decision with the Belgian Court for Sports Arbitrage (BAS) successfully on each occasion and intended to do so again. Oostende was planning to launch an appeal as well, with the BAS to rule on the matter for both clubs before the 10th of May. Both clubs were allowed to add new documents to their case, but in case they however still did not receive a license after appeal, knew they would have been forced to relegate to the 2021–22 Belgian Division 2 and start the season with a 3-point penalty.[37] Both Exel Mouscron and Oostende were however eventually awarded a license after appeal, meaning Oostende remained at the top level, while Excel Mouscron only dropped one level.[38][39]

Results

More information Home \ Away, CLU ...
Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Play-Off I

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 38, Antwerp 30, Anderlecht 29 and Genk 28.

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Regular season finishing position.[41]
(C) Champions

Play-Off II

The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Oostende 27, Standard 25, Gent 25 and Mechelen 24. The points of Oostende and Gent were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.

More information Pos, Team ...
Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Regular season finishing position.[42]

European competition play-offs

Originally, the fourth-placed team of the play-offs I (or third-placed team if the regular season winners finish fourth) and the first-placed team of the play-offs II would play two home-and-away matches to determine the Europa Conference League play-off winner, which would qualify for the second qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League. However, since Genk, winners of the 2020–21 Belgian Cup, finished in the regular season top four and qualified for play-offs I, this guaranteed that all four teams of play-offs I would qualify for European competitions. As a result, the play-off final was not played, and the first-placed team of the play-offs II, KAA Gent, qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League.[citation needed]

Promotion-Relegation play-off

The team finishing in 17th place competes in a two-legged match with the runner-up of the 2020–21 Belgian First Division B, with the aggregate winner to play in the 2021–22 Belgian First Division A, while the losing team will take part in the 2021–22 Belgian First Division B.[citation needed]

On 11 April 2021, Seraing from the Belgian First Division B qualified for the promotion-relegation playoff as a loss by Lommel against Union SG meant Seraing could no longer be overtaken for second place. On 8 May 2021, Seraing was promoted to the 2021–22 Belgian First Division A after a 6–3 aggregate win in the two-legged series and Waasland-Beveren was relegated to the 2021–22 Belgian First Division B.

More information Seraing, 1–1 ...
Attendance: 0
Referee: Lawrence Visser
More information Waasland-Beveren, 2–5 ...
Attendance: 0

Seraing won 6–3 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers - regular season only

As of matches played on 18 April 2021.[43]
More information Rank, Player ...

Top assists

As of matches played on 18 April 2021.
More information Rank, Player ...

Awards

Annual awards

More information Award, Winner ...
More information Team of the Year ...

Notes

  1. [n 1]
    During the first two matchdays, Kompany & Belgium Franky Vercauteren were co-managing the squad, with Kompany also registered as player (though not playing through injury). However thereafter Kompany stopped his playing career and became the sole manager of the squad.
  2. [n 2]
    Croatia Ivan Leko was the manager for matchdays 1 through 19.
  3. [n 3]
    Argentina Hernán Losada was the manager for matchdays 1 through 21.
  4. [n 4]
    An apparel brand made by club.
  5. [n 5]
    England Paul Clement was the manager for matchdays 1 through 25.
  6. [n 6]
    France Karim Belhocine was the manager for all matches of the regular season, after which he was sacked but remained manager until the last training session of the season. Note that Charleroi had not qualified for the play-offs and hence had no more matches scheduled.
  7. [n 7]
    France Fernando Da Cruz was managing the team for matchdays 1 to 9.
  8. [n 8]
    Germany Hannes Wolf was manager for matchdays 1 to 4, Belgium Domenico Olivieri was caretaker manager on matchdays 5 and 12; and Denmark Jess Thorup managed the club from matchdays 6 through 11.
  9. [n 9]
    Denmark Jess Thorup was the manager for matchdays 1 and 2, Romania László Bölöni led the club for matchdays 3 through 5 and Belgium Wim De Decker was in charge on matchdays 6 through 14.
  10. [N 10]
    Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe was the manager for matchdays 1 through 25.
  11. [N 11]
    Australia Kevin Muscat was the manager for matchdays 1 through 14 and Belgium Stef Van Winckel was caretaker manager on matchday 15.
  12. [N 12]
    France Philippe Montanier was the manager for matchdays 1 through 19.
  13. [N 13]
    While van den Brom was announced on 6 November 2020, caretaker Domenico Olivieri was still leading the group during the match of 7 November 2020 against Sint-Truiden, with van den Brom only officially taking charge of 8 November 2020.

References

  1. [1]
    "Communicatie na de Algemene Vergadering". Jupiler Pro League. 15 May 2020.
  2. [2]
    "Club Brugge - Charleroi is de opener van het seizoen en meteen maandagvoetbal: Ontdek hier de kalender van het seizoen 2020/21". 8 July 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Cercle Brugge ziet zijn redder vertrekken: Bernd Storck gaat niet in op voorstel" [Cercle Brugge sees saviour depart: Bernd Storck does not accept proposition] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 22 April 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Voormalige rechterhand van Carlo Ancelotti wordt nieuwe coach van Cercle" [Carlo Ancelotti's former right-hand man becomes Cercle's new manager] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 3 July 2020.
  5. [5]
    "OFFICIEEL: Geen Bölöni meer volgend seizoen bij Antwerp" [OFFICIAL: No Bölöni anymore next season at Antwerp] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 May 2020.
  6. [6]
    "Ivan Leko volgt Laszlo Bölöni op als coach van Antwerp" [Ivan Leko succeeds Laszlo Bölöni as Antwerp manager] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 20 May 2020.
  7. [7]
    "STVV EN MILOS KOSTIC NEMEN AFSCHEID" [STVV AND MILOS KOSTIC SAY GOODBYE] (in Dutch). stvv.com. 2 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Muscat is nieuwe STVV-coach, Kostic hield enkel stoel warm: "Plan van Japanners"" [Muscat new STVV-manager, Kostic was only keeping his seat warm: "Japanese Plan"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2 June 2020.
  9. [9]
    "Waasland-Beveren presenteert Nicky Hayen als nieuwe trainer" [Waasland-Beveren presents Nicky Hayen as nieuwe manager] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 4 June 2020.
  10. [10]
    "Duitser Blessin wordt de nieuwe coach van KV Oostende" [German Blessin becomes new manager of KV Oostende] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 7 June 2020.
  11. [11]
    "Michel Preud'homme stopt als hoofdcoach bij Standard: "Eerlijk zijn met jezelf"" [Michel Preud'homme quits as Standard manager: "Have to be fair to yourself"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 8 June 2020.
  12. [12]
    "Standard tovert Philippe Montanier uit zijn hoed als nieuwe trainer" [Standard comes up with Philippe Montanier as new manager by surprise] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 June 2020.
  13. [13]
    "Moeskroen en coach Bernd Hollerbach gaan uit mekaar" [Mouscron and manager Hollerbach part ways] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 June 2020.
  14. [14]
    "Gérard Lopez: "Ik neem Moeskroen over, niet Rijsel"" [Gérard Lopez: "I'm the one taking over Mouscron, not Lille"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 18 July 2020.
  15. [15]
    "BREAKING: Vincent Kompany stopt met voetballen en wordt coach van Anderlecht" [BREAKING: Vincent Kompany stops as footballer and becomes manager of Anderlecht] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 17 August 2020.
  16. [16]
    "AA Gent stuurt Jess Thorup al na 2 matchen de laan uit" [AA Gent sacks Jess Thorup after just 2 matches] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 20 August 2020.
  17. [17]
    "AA Gent zet Bölöni na 25 dagen alweer aan de deur" [AA Gent sacks Bölöni after just 25 days] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 September 2020.
  18. [18]
    "Racing Genk neemt afscheid van trainer Hannes Wolf" [RC Genk says goodbye to coach Hannes Wolf] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 15 September 2020.
  19. [19]
    "KRC Genk vist Jess Thorup weer op als nieuwe hoofdtrainer" [KRC Genk revives Jess Thorup as manager] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 24 September 2020.
  20. [20]
    "Rode lantaarn Moeskroen zegt vertrouwen in trainer Da Cruz op" [Red lantern Mouscron no longer has confidence in manager Da Cruz] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 19 October 2020.
  21. [21]
    "Moeskroen haalt zijn nieuwe coach in Portugal: Jorge Simao" [Mouscron finds new manager in Portugal: Jorge Simao] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 20 October 2020.
  22. [22]
    "Trainer Jess Thorup ruilt Racing Genk voor Kopenhagen: "Het spijt me"" [Manager Jess Thorup exchanges Racing Genk for Copenhagen: "I'm sorry"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2 November 2020.
  23. [23]
    "OFFICIEEL: John van den Brom is de nieuwe trainer van Racing Genk" [OFFICIAL: John van den Brom new manager of Racing Genk] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 6 November 2020.
  24. [24]
    "STVV ontslaat coach Muscat, Hollerbach in poleposition als opvolger" [STVV sacks manager Muscat, Hollerbach in poleposition as replacement] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 1 December 2020.
  25. [25]
    "AA Gent zet coach Wim De Decker op straat na 0 op 15 in Europa League" [AA Gent sacks manager Wim De Decker following 0 out of 15 in Europa League] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 3 December 2020.
  26. [26]
    "AA Gent legt zijn lot opnieuw in handen van Hein Vanhaezebrouck" [AA Gent places its fate in hands of Hein Vanhaezebrouck again] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 4 December 2020.
  27. [27]
    "Peter Maes wordt de nieuwe coach van STVV" [Peter Maes becomes the new STVV manager] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 7 December 2020.
  28. [28]
    "Het kon niet blijven duren: Standard zet Montanier op straat na reeks slechte resultaten" [Inevitable: Standard sacks Montanier following string of bad results] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 26 December 2020.
  29. [29]
    "Standard geeft ex-assistent Mbaye Leye nu toch een kans als hoofdcoach" [Standard gives former assistant manager Mbaye Leye a chance as head coach] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 30 December 2020.
  30. [30]
    "Officieel: Ivan Leko verlaat Antwerp voor Chinees avontuur" [Official: Ivan Leko leaves Antwerp for Chinese adventure] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 29 December 2020.
  31. [31]
    "OFFICIEEL: Frank Vercauteren is de nieuwe coach van Antwerp" [OFFICIAL: Frank Vercauteren new manager of Antwerp] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 30 December 2020.
  32. [32]
    "Hernan Losada verlaat Beerschot voor American dream in MLS" [Hernan Losada leaves Beerschot for American dream in MLS] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 17 January 2021.
  33. [33]
    "Assistent Will Still volgt Losada op als hoofdcoach van Beerschot" [Assistant Will Still succeeds Losada as head coach at Beerschot] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 19 January 2021.
  34. [34]
    "Kortrijk zet coach Yves Vanderhaeghe op straat, Luka Elsner neemt over" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 31 January 2021.
  35. [35]
    "Degradatiestress slaat toe: Cercle Brugge neemt afscheid van coach Clement" [Relegation stress kicks in: Cercle Brugge says goodbye to manager Clement] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 1 February 2021.
  36. [36]
    "Cercle Brugge rekent op Yves Vanderhaeghe voor redding" [Cercle Brugge counts on Yves Vanderhaeghe to avoid relegation] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 3 February 2021.
  37. [37]
    "KV Oostende en Moeskroen krijgen (weer) geen licentie in eerste zit" [KV Oostende and (again) Mouscron don't receive a license at their first attempt] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  38. [38]
    "KV Oostende krijgt licentie van BAS, afwachten voor Moeskroen" [KV Oostende awarded license by BAS, Mouscron still waiting] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  39. [39]
    "Degradant Moeskroen bemachtigt via BAS opnieuw een licentie" [Relegated Mouscron again obtains license after appeal at BAS] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  40. [40]
    "Bondsreglement Titel 7: Competities" [Association Rules Title 7: Competitions] (PDF). Royal Belgian Football Association. p. 19. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  41. [41]
    "BOEK P" [BOOK P] (PDF). Belgian FA. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  42. [42]
    "BOEK P" [BOOK P] (PDF). Belgian FA. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  43. [43]
    "Jupiler Pro League Top Scorer". Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  44. [44]
    Africa Facts Zone [@AfricaFactsZone] (28 August 2021). "Paul Onuachu and Clinton Mata were included in the 2020/2021 Belgian Jupiler Pro League Golden Eleven. https://t.co/KjzLPcda7s" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023 – via Twitter.
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