Hubbry Logo
search
search button
Sign in
Historyarrow-down
starMorearrow-down
Welcome to the community hub built on top of the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A Wikipedia article. Here, you can discuss, collect, and organize anything related to 2020–21 Belgian First Division A. The purpose of the hub is to connect people, foster deeper knowledge, and help improve the root Wikipedia article.
Add your contribution
Inside this hub
2020–21 Belgian First Division A

Belgian First Division A
Season2020–21
Dates8 August 2020 – 23 May 2021
ChampionsClub Brugge
RelegatedExcel Mouscron
Waasland-Beveren
Champions LeagueClub Brugge
Genk
Europa LeagueRoyal Antwerp
Europa Conference LeagueGent
Anderlecht
Matches played306
Goals scored914 (2.99 per match)
Top goalscorerPaul Onuachu
(30 goals)
Biggest home winGent 5–1 Beerschot
(4 October 2020)
Genk 4–0 Eupen
(30 October 2020)
Gent 4–0 Excel Mouscron
(15 February 2021)
Gent 4–0 Charleroi
(10 April 2021)
Genk 4–0 Sint-Truiden
(11 April 2021)
Biggest away winZulte Waregem 0–6 Club Brugge
(20 September 2020)
Highest scoringKortrijk 5–5 Beerschot
(7 November 2020)
Longest winning run10 matches
Club Brugge
Longest unbeaten run12 matches
Club Brugge
Longest winless run10 matches
Cercle Brugge
Excel Mouscron
Waasland-Beveren
Longest losing run7 matches
Cercle Brugge
All statistics correct as of 20 May 2021.

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.

Team changes

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Stadiums and locations

[edit]
Matricule Club Location Venue Capacity
35 Anderlecht Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,500
1 Antwerp Antwerp Bosuilstadion 12,975
13 Beerschot Antwerp Olympic Stadium 12,771
12 Cercle Brugge Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042
22 Charleroi Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 14,000
3 Club Brugge Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042
4276 Eupen Eupen Kehrwegstadion 8,363
322 Genk Genk Luminus Arena 24,956
7 Gent Ghent Ghelamco Arena 20,000
19 Kortrijk Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,399
25 Mechelen Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 16,700
216 Mouscron Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571
31 Oostende Ostend Versluys Arena 8,432
18 Oud-Heverlee Leuven Leuven Den Dreef 10,000
373 Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden Stayen 14,600
16 Standard Liège Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 30,023
4068 Waasland-Beveren Beveren Freethiel Stadion 8,190
5381 Zulte Waregem Waregem Regenboogstadion 12,500

Number of teams by provinces

[edit]
Number of teams Province or region Team(s)
5 West Flanders Cercle Brugge, Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem
3 Antwerp

Antwerp, Beerschot and Mechelen

2 East Flanders Gent and Waasland-Beveren
Hainaut Charleroi and Mouscron
Liège Eupen and Standard Liège
Limburg

Genk and Sint-Truiden

1 Brussels Anderlecht
Flemish Brabant Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Personnel and kits

[edit]
Club Manager Kit Manufacturer Sponsors
Anderlecht Belgium Vincent Kompany[n 1] Joma DVV Insurance (home)
Candriam (away)
Antwerp Belgium Franky Vercauteren[n 2] Jako Ghelamco
Beerschot Belgium Will Still[n 3] XIII[n 4] Yelo
Cercle Brugge Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe[n 5] Kappa Napoleon Games
Charleroi France Karim Belhocine[n 6] Kappa Lotto
Club Brugge Belgium Philippe Clement Macron Unibet
Eupen Spain Beñat San José Adidas Qatar Airways
Excel Mouscron Portugal Jorge Simão[n 7] Uhlsport Star Casino
Genk Netherlands John van den Brom[n 8] Nike Beobank
Gent Belgium Hein Vanhaezebrouck[n 9] Craft VDK Bank
Kortrijk Slovenia Luka Elsner[n 10] Jako AGO Jobs & HR
Mechelen Belgium Wouter Vrancken Jartazi Telenet
OH Leuven Belgium Marc Brys Adidas King Power
Oostende Germany Alexander Blessin Kipsta Star Casino
Sint-Truiden Belgium Peter Maes[n 11] Macron DMM.com
Standard Liège Senegal Mbaye Leye[n 12] New Balance VOO
Waasland-Beveren Belgium Nicky Hayen Uhlsport Star Casino
Zulte-Waregem Belgium Francky Dury Patrick Napoleon Games

Managerial changes

[edit]
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment
Cercle Brugge Germany Bernd Storck End of contract[3] End of 2019–20 season Pre-season England Paul Clement 3 July 2020[4]
Antwerp Romania László Bölöni End of contract[5] Croatia Ivan Leko 20 May 2020[6]
Sint-Truiden Slovenia Miloš Kostić Mutual consent[7] Australia Kevin Muscat 2 June 2020[8]
Waasland-Beveren Belgium Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker) Caretaker replaced Belgium Nicky Hayen 4 June 2020 [9]
Oostende Bosnia and Herzegovina Adnan Čustović Replaced[10] Germany Alexander Blessin 7 June 2020[10]
Standard Liège Belgium Michel Preud'homme Resigned[11] France Philippe Montanier 10 June 2020[12]
Excel Mouscron Germany Bernd Hollerbach Mutual consent[13] France Fernando Da Cruz 18 July 2020[14]
Anderlecht Belgium Franky Vercauteren Kompany became sole manager[15] 17 August 2020 3rd Belgium Vincent Kompany 17 August 2020[15]
Gent Denmark Jess Thorup Sacked[16] 20 August 2020 16th Romania László Bölöni 20 August 2020[16]
Gent Romania László Bölöni Sacked[17] 14 September 2020 16th Belgium Wim De Decker 14 September 2020
Genk Germany Hannes Wolf Sacked[18] 15 September 2020 14th Belgium Domenico Olivieri (caretaker) 15 September 2020
Genk Belgium Domenico Olivieri Caretaker replaced[19] 24 September 2020 14th Denmark Jess Thorup 24 September 2020
Excel Mouscron France Fernando Da Cruz Sacked[20] 19 October 2020 18th Portugal Jorge Simão 20 October 2020[21]
Genk Denmark Jess Thorup Hired by Denmark Copenhagen[22] 2 November 2020 7th Netherlands John van den Brom[23] 8 November 2020 [n 13]
Sint-Truiden Australia Kevin Muscat Sacked[24] 1 December 2020 16th Belgium Stef Van Winckel (caretaker) 1 December 2020
Gent Belgium Wim De Decker Sacked[25] 3 December 2020 12th Belgium Hein Vanhaezebrouck[26] 4 December 2020
Sint-Truiden Belgium Stef Van Winckel Caretaker replaced[27] 7 December 2020 17th Belgium Peter Maes[27] 7 December 2020
Standard Liège France Philippe Montanier Sacked[28] 26 December 2020 11th Senegal Mbaye Leye[29] 30 December 2020
Antwerp Croatia Ivan Leko Hired by China Shanghai SIPG[30] 29 December 2020 5th Belgium Franky Vercauteren[31] 4 January 2021
Beerschot Argentina Hernán Losada Hired by United States D.C. United[32] 17 January 2021 10th Belgium Will Still[33] 19 January 2021
Kortrijk Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe Sacked[34] 31 January 2021 15th Slovenia Luka Elsner[34] 31 January 2021
Cercle Brugge England Paul Clement Sacked[35] 1 February 2021 17th Belgium Yves Vanderhaeghe[36] 3 February 2021


Regular season

[edit]

League table

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Club Brugge (C) 34 24 4 6 73 26 +47 76 Qualification for the Europa Conference League and Play-offs I[a]
2 Antwerp 34 18 6 10 57 48 +9 60 Qualification for the Play-offs I
3 Anderlecht 34 15 13 6 51 34 +17 58
4 Genk[b] 34 16 8 10 67 48 +19 56
5 Oostende[c] 34 15 8 11 49 41 +8 53 Qualification for the Play-offs II
6 Standard Liège 34 13 11 10 52 41 +11 50
7 Gent 34 14 7 13 55 42 +13 49
8 Mechelen 34 13 9 12 54 54 0 48
9 Beerschot 34 14 5 15 58 64 −6 47
10 Zulte Waregem 34 14 4 16 53 69 −16 46
11 OH Leuven 34 12 9 13 54 59 −5 45
12 Eupen 34 10 13 11 44 55 −11 43
13 Charleroi 34 11 9 14 46 49 −3 42
14 Kortrijk 34 11 6 17 44 57 −13 39
15 Sint-Truiden 34 10 8 16 41 52 −11 38
16 Cercle Brugge 34 11 3 20 40 51 −11 36
17 Waasland-Beveren (R) 34 8 7 19 44 70 −26 31 Qualification for the Relegation play-off
18 Excel Mouscron[c] (R) 34 7 10 17 32 54 −22 31 Relegation to First Division B
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. ^ a b 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 Excel 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

[edit]
Home \ Away CLU ANT AND GNK OOS STA GNT KVM BEE ZWA OHL EUP CHA KVK STR CER W-B EXM
Club Brugge 0–2 3–0 3–2 2–1 3–1 0–1 2–2 0–1 3–0 3–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 4–1 4–2
Antwerp 0–2 1–4 3–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 4–1 3–2 0–1 3–2 2–2 2–1 4–2 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–1
Anderlecht 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–1 2–2 1–1 3–0 0–2 3–1 2–0 0–0 1–1
Genk 1–2 4–2 1–2 2–2 2–2 1–1 3–1 1–2 3–2 1–1 4–0 2–1 2–0 4–0 2–0 1–1 4–1
Oostende 1–3 1–1 2–2 3–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 3–0 3–1 1–1 3–2 2–1 1–3 1–1 0–2 3–0
Standard Liège 1–1 1–1 1–3 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–2 1–1 2–2 3–2 2–1 1–2 1–0 3–1 0–1
Gent 0–4 0–1 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 5–1 0–3 2–3 2–2 4–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 4–0
Mechelen 0–3 3–0 2–2 0–0 0–1 0–4 1–1 2–3 4–2 2–2 3–0 3–3 1–2 2–0 2–3 2–3 2–1
Beerschot 0–3 1–2 2–1 5–2 1–2 0–3 1–1 1–2 3–1 4–2 0–1 2–1 0–0 6–3 1–1 3–2 2–2
Zulte Waregem 0–6 1–3 2–2 1–2 2–1 3–2 2–7 1–2 0–3 2–3 2–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 4–1 1–0
OH Leuven 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–3 1–2 1–0 0–3 1–2 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–3 3–1 2–2 2–1 1–2 2–0
Eupen 0–4 0–2 2–0 1–4 1–1 0–4 2–1 1–1 3–1 2–3 3–3 3–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–1
Charleroi 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–3 0–0 0–0 3–0 0–2 1–1
Kortrijk 1–2 1–3 1–3 2–1 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–4 5–5 1–2 0–3 0–0 1–3 0–2 1–2 1–3 3–0
Sint-Truiden 1–2 2–3 0–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–2 3–1 0–2 1–2 0–0 3–0 1–1 0–2
Cercle Brugge 1–2 2–1 0–0 1–5 0–1 0–1 5–2 0–1 2–1 1–3 3–0 1–2 3–4 0–1 3–0 2–0 1–2
Waasland-Beveren 0–2 0–3 2–4 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–4 2–3 1–2 1–5 1–3 1–0 1–1 3–4 2–4 0–2 2–0
Excel Mouscron 0–0 2–3 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 0–1 2–2 0–2 1–1 0–3 3–2 1–2 1–1
Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

[edit]

Play-Off I

[edit]

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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation CLU GNK ANT AND
1 Club Brugge (C) 6 1 3 2 8 11 −3 44 Qualification for the Champions League group stage 1–2 2–1 2–2
2 Genk 6 5 1 0 15 5 +10 44 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round 3–0 4–0 1–1
3 Antwerp 6 1 2 3 6 11 −5 35 Qualification for the Europa League play-off round 0–0 2–3 1–0
4 Anderlecht 6 0 4 2 9 11 −2 33 Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round 3–3 1–2 2–2
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

[edit]

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.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation GNT MEC OOS STA
1 Gent 6 4 1 1 13 6 +7 38 Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round 2–2 2–1 2–0
2 Mechelen 6 3 2 1 15 11 +4 35 1–2 5–3 3–1
3 Oostende 6 2 1 3 15 16 −1 34 0–4 2–2 6–2
4 Standard Liège 6 1 0 5 7 17 −10 28 2–1 1–2 1–3
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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.

Seraing1–1Waasland-Beveren
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Lawrence Visser
Waasland-Beveren2–5Seraing
Report

Seraing won 6–3 on aggregate.

Season statistics

[edit]

Top scorers - regular season only

[edit]
As of matches played on 18 April 2021.[43]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Nigeria Paul Onuachu Genk 30
2 France Thomas Henry OH Leuven 21
3 Belgium Gianni Bruno Zulte Waregem 20
4 Japan Yuma Suzuki Sint-Truiden 17
Ukraine Roman Yaremchuk Gent
6 Austria Raphael Holzhauser Beerschot 16
England Ike Ugbo Cercle Brugge
8 Bosnia and Herzegovina Smail Prevljak Eupen 15
9 Belgium Theo Bongonda Genk 14
Netherlands Noa Lang Club Brugge
Germany Lukas Nmecha Anderlecht

Top assists

[edit]
As of matches played on 18 April 2021.
Rank Player Club Assists
1 Austria Raphael Holzhauser Beerschot 16
France Xavier Mercier OH Leuven
3 Denmark Andrew Hjulsager Oostende 10
Japan Junya Ito Genk
5 Netherlands Ruud Vormer Club Brugge 9
6 Israel Lior Refaelov Antwerp 8
7 Mexico Omar Govea Zulte Waregem 7
Netherlands Noa Lang Club Brugge
Japan Ryota Morioka Charleroi
Belgium Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe Gent
Belgium Rob Schoofs Mechelen
Comoros Faïz Selemani Kortrijk
Belgium Hans Vanaken Club Brugge

Awards

[edit]

Annual awards

[edit]
Award Winner Club
Player of the Year Nigeria Paul Onuachu Genk
Top goalscorer
Manager of the Year Germany Alexander Blessin Oostende
Breakthrough of the Year Netherlands Noa Lang Club Brugge
Team of the Year[44]
Goalkeeper Belgium Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge)
Defence Angola Clinton Mata

(Club Brugge)

Belgium Arthur Theate

(Oostende)

Belgium Ritchie De Laet (Royal Antwerp)
Midfield Israel Lior Refaelov

(Royal Antwerp)

Belgium Bryan Heynen

(Genk)

Austria Raphael Holzhauser

(Beerschot)

France

Xavier Mercier (OH Leuven)

Attack Japan Junya Ito (Genk) Nigeria Paul Onuachu (Genk) Netherlands Noa Lang

(Club Brugge)

Notes

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Add your contribution
Related Hubs