Belgian football league system

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

[edit] The system

Below shows how the current system works. For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which often differs radically from its official name) and number of clubs is given. Each division promotes to the division(s) that lie directly above them and relegates to the division(s) that lie directly below them.

On May 17, 2008, the Belgian Football Association decided that the Belgian First Division will consist of only 16 instead of 18 teams from the 2009-10 season on. In the 2008-09 season the teams ending in 17th and 18th position will relegate and the teams in positions 15 and 16 will play a relegation playoff against two teams from the Belgian Second Division. The exact manner of this playoff (4-team round robin or bracket system) is still unsure and is still under discussion, but only one of these four teams will play in the Belgian First Division in 2009-10, together with the Second Division Champion. Apart from this change in amount of teams there will also be a playoff to determine the champion and the european places. The exact manner in which this playoff will be organised is also still under discussion, but there will probably be a split in the league after a certain amount of matchdays, so that there is one part of the league playing for the european places and one part playing against relegation. ^[1]

Level

League(s)/Division(s)

Belgian First Division
(Jupiler League)
18 clubs

Belgian Second Division
(Nationwide league)
18 clubs

Belgian Third Division A
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

Belgian Third Division B
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

Belgian Promotion A
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

Belgian Promotion B
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

Belgian Promotion C
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

Belgian Promotion D
(Nationwide league)
16 clubs

West Flanders 1 Provinciaal 16 clubs
East Flanders 1 Provinciaal 16 clubs
Antwerp Eerste Provinciale 16 clubs
Limburg Eerste Provinciale 16 clubs
Brabant Eerste Provinciale 16 clubs
Hainaut 1 Provinciale 16 clubs
Namur 1 Provinciale 16 clubs
Luxembourg 1 Provinciale 16 clubs
Liège I Provinciale 16 clubs
(All divisions run in parallel)

West Flanders 2 Provinciaal (2 parallel divisions)
East Flanders 2 Provinciaal (3 parallel divisions)
Antwerp Tweede Provinciale (2 parallel divisions)
Limburg Tweede Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)
Brabant Tweede Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)
Hainaut 2 Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)
Namur 2 Provinciale (2 parallel divisions)
Luxembourg 2 Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)
Liège II Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)

West Flanders 3 Provinciaal (3 parallel divisions)
East Flanders 3 Provinciaal (5 parallel divisions)
Antwerp Derde Provinciale (4 parallel divisions)
Limburg Derde Provinciale (4 parallel divisions)
Brabant Derde Provinciale (6 parallel divisions)
Hainaut 3 Provinciale (5 parallel divisions)
Namur 3 Provinciale (3 parallel divisions)
Luxembourg 3 Provinciale (5 parallel divisions) (Lowest in Luxembourg)
Liège III Provinciale (5 parallel divisions)

West Flanders 4 Provinciaal (4 parallel divisions)
East Flanders 4 Provinciaal (5 parallel divisions)
Antwerp Vierde Provinciale (5 parallel divisions)
Limburg Vierde Provinciale (4 parallel divisions)
Brabant Vierde Provinciale (9 parallel divisions)
Hainaut 4 Provinciale (8 parallel divisions)
Namur 4 Provinciale (4 parallel divisions)
Liège IV Provinciale (6 parallel divisions)