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] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Belgian First Division A has expanded temporarily from 16 to 18 teams, with the intention to return to 16 from 2023 to 2024. In the graph below, if some leagues are divided into different series, it means that there is an A league, B league, C league and/or D league.
(All divisions run in parallel) Belgian Provincial Leagues, First Level Eerste Provinciale Antwerpen – 16 clubs Eerste Provinciale Brabant (Flemish) – 16 clubs Première Provinciale Brabant (Francophone) – 16 clubs Première Provinciale Hainaut – 16 clubs Première Provinciale Liège – 18 clubs Eerste Provinciale Limburg – 16 clubs Première Provinciale Luxembourg – 14 clubs Première Provinciale Namur – 16 clubs Eerste Provinciale Oost-Vlaanderen – 16 clubs Eerste Provinciale West-Vlaanderen – 16 clubs
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(All divisions run in parallel) Belgian Provincial Leagues, Second Level Tweede Provinciale Antwerpen – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Tweede Provinciale Brabant (Flemish) – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Deuxième Provinciale Brabant (Francophone) – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Deuxième Provinciale Hainaut – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16 Deuxième Provinciale Liège – 46 clubs divided in 3 series; 2 of 15 teams and 1 of 16 teams Tweede Provinciale Limburg – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Deuxième Provinciale Luxembourg – 42 clubs divided in 3 series of 14 Deuxième Provinciale Namur – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Tweede Provinciale Oost-Vlaanderen – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16 Tweede Provinciale West-Vlaanderen – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16
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(All divisions run in parallel) Belgian Provincial Leagues, Third Level Derde Provinciale Antwerpen – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16 Derde Provinciale Brabant (Flemish) – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Troisième Provinciale Brabant (Francophone) – 32 clubs divided in 2 series of 16 Troisième Provinciale Hainaut – 64 clubs divided in 4 series of 16 Troisième Provinciale Liège – 64 clubs divided in 4 series of 16 Derde Provinciale Limburg – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16 Troisième Provinciale Luxembourg – 72 clubs divided in 6 series; 4 of 14 teams and 2 of 13 teams Troisième Provinciale Namur – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16 Derde Provinciale Oost-Vlaanderen – 80 clubs divided in 5 series of 16 Derde Provinciale West-Vlaanderen – 48 clubs divided in 3 series of 16
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(All divisions run in parallel) Belgian Provincial Leagues, Fourth Level Vierde Provinciale Antwerpen – 82 clubs divided in 5 series; 3 of 16 teams and 2 of 17 teams Vierde Provinciale Brabant (Flemish) – 96 clubs divided in 6 series of 16 Quatrième Provinciale Hainaut – 115 clubs divided in 8 series; 5 of 14 teams and 3 of 15 teams Quatrième Provinciale Liège – 112 clubs divided in 8 series; 3 of 13 teams, 2 of 14 teams and 3 of 15 teams Vierde Provinciale Limburg – 52 clubs divided in 8 series; 2 of 17 teams and 1 of 18 teams Quatrième Provinciale Namur – 78 clubs divided in 6 series of 13 Vierde Provinciale Oost-Vlaanderen – 72 clubs divided in 5 series; 3 of 16 teams and 2 of 17 teams Vierde Provinciale West-Vlaanderen – 52 clubs divided in 3 series; 1 of 16 teams and 2 of 18 teams
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.
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.
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]
From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
