2020–21 Belgian First Division A

The 2020–21 Belgian First Division A will be 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 will involve shortened playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the top four teams will play off for the title, while teams five through eight will playoff for the remaining ticket into Europe.[1] The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020.[2]

Belgian First Division A
Season2020–21
Dates8 August 2020 – 30 May 2021
Matches played9
Goals scored23 (2.56 per match)
2021–22 →

Team changes

Waasland-Beveren was relegated as the team was in the last position when the 2019–20 Belgian First Division A was stopped prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their replacement is still uncertain. If OH Leuven and Beerschot manage to complete the second leg of their promotion playoff in time before the start of the season, the winner will take the spot of Waasland-Beveren. However, Waasland-Beveren remained in top flight. While, Beerschot and Leuven promoted to top flight. The League has been expanded to 18 teams this season.

Format change

Structure has been changed, while the regular season remains unchanged, the end of season play-offs have been shortened temporarily and for the 2020–21 season only. The title playoffs will now only be played by the top four teams (instead of six) and the Europa League play-offs will now be played by the teams finishing fifth through eight (instead of all teams finishing below 6th). However, the 18th place will be relegated directly while the 17th place will battle for promotion-relegation play off against 2nd place of Belgian First Division B.

Teams

Stadiums and locations
Locations of the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A teams
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 08,363
322 Genk Genk Luminus Arena 24,956
7 Gent Ghent Ghelamco Arena 20,000
19 Kortrijk Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 09,399
25 Mechelen Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 16,700
216 Mouscron Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571
31 Oostende Ostend Versluys Arena 08,432
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 08,190
5381 Zulte Waregem Waregem Regenboogstadion 12,500

Personnel and kits
Club Manager Kit Manufacturer Sponsors
Anderlecht Vincent Kompany[n 1] Joma BNP Paribas Fortis
Antwerp Ivan Leko Jako Ghelamco
Beerschot Hernán Losada Joma DCA
Cercle Brugge Paul Clement Kappa Napoleon Games
Charleroi Karim Belhocine Kappa Proximus
Club Brugge Philippe Clement Macron Unibet
Eupen Beñat San José Nike Aspire Academy
Excel Mouscron Fernando Da Cruz Uhlsport Star Casino
Genk Hannes Wolf Nike Beobank
Gent Jess Thorup Craft Vdk bank
Kortrijk Yves Vanderhaeghe Jako AGO Jobs & HR
Mechelen Wouter Vrancken Jartazi Telenet
OH Leuven Marc Brys Adidas King Power
Oostende Alexander Blessin Joma DIAZ Be
Sint-Truiden Kevin Muscat Macron Golden Palace
Standard Liège Philippe Montanier New Balance VOO
Zulte-Waregem Francky Dury Patrick Willy Naessens Group

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment
Cercle Brugge Bernd Storck End of contract[3] End of 2019–20 season Pre-season Paul Clement 3 July 2020[4]
Antwerp László Bölöni End of contract[5] Ivan Leko 20 May 2020[6]
Sint-Truiden Miloš Kostić Mutual consent[7] Kevin Muscat 2 June 2020[8]
Waasland-Beveren Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker) Caretaker replaced Nicky Hayen 4 June 2020 [9]
Oostende Adnan Čustović Replaced[10] Alexander Blessin 7 June 2020[10]
Standard Liège Michel Preud'homme Resigned[11] Philippe Montanier 10 June 2020[12]
Excel Mouscron Bernd Hollerbach Mutual consent[13] Fernando Da Cruz 18 July 2020[14]
Anderlecht Franky Vercauteren Kompany became sole manager[15] 17 August 2020 3rd Vincent Kompany 17 August 2020[15]

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Beerschot 2 2 0 0 5 2 +3 6 Qualification for the Play-offs I
2 Standard Liège 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6
3 Charleroi 2 2 0 0 2 0 +2 6
4 Anderlecht 2 1 1 0 5 3 +2 4
5 Genk 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4 Qualification for the Play-offs II
6 Mechelen 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4
7 Club Brugge 2 1 0 1 4 1 +3 3
8 Waasland-Beveren 2 1 0 1 4 3 +1 3
9 Cercle Brugge 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
10 Sint-Truiden 2 1 0 1 3 4 −1 3
11 Kortrijk 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 3
12 OH Leuven 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
13 Antwerp 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
14 Excel Mouscron 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 1
15 Eupen 2 0 1 1 1 5 −4 1
16 Gent 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0
17 Oostende 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 0 Qualification for the Relegation Play-off
18 Zulte Waregem 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 0 Relegation to First Division B
Updated to match(es) played on 17 August 2020. Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[16]

Results
Home \ Away AND ANT BEE CER CHA CLU EUP EXM GNK GNT KVK KVM OHL OOS STA STR W-B ZWA
Anderlecht — 3–1
Antwerp — 1–1
Beerschot — 3–1
Cercle Brugge 2–1 —
Charleroi — 1–0
Club Brugge 0–1 —
Eupen 0–4 —
Excel Mouscron — 0–1
Genk — 1–1
Gent — 1–2
Kortrijk — 1–3
Mechelen 2–2 —
OH Leuven 1–1 —
Oostende 1–2 —
Standard Liège 1–0 —
Sint-Truiden 2–1 —
Waasland-Beveren 1–2 —
Zulte Waregem 1–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 17 August 2020. Source: Belgian Pro League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Play-Off I

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH
1 1st place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for the Champions League group stage —
2 2nd place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round —
3 3rd place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round —
4 4th place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 1] —
Source: Sport.be
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[17]
Notes:
  1. Winner of play-off will qualify to Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

Play-Off II

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation 5TH 6TH 7TH 8TH
1 5th place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 1] —
2 6th place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 7th place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
4 8th place of the regular season 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
Source: Sport.be
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won; 7) Play-off.[18]
Notes:
  1. Winner of play-off will qualify to Europa Conference League second qualifying round.


European competition play-offs

The fourth-placed team of the play-offs I and the first-placed team of the play-offs II played two matches by home-and-away matches to determine the Europa League play-off winner. The winner will qualify for the second qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League.


Promotion-Relegation play-off

Season statistics
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