2014–15 Belgian Pro League


The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Pro League is the 112th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2014 and finished in May 2015. K.A.A. Gent won the league, making it the first championship title in their 115-year history.

Teams

Following the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, R.A.E.C. Mons were relegated to the 2014–15 Belgian Second Division after losing their relegation playoff series against OH Leuven. Mons is replaced by 2013–14 Belgian Second Division champions K.V.C. Westerlo, who returned to the highest level after their relegation during the 2011–12 season.
Mouscron-Péruwelz replaces OH Leuven as they won the 2014 Belgian Second Division Final Round head of K.A.S. Eupen, Sint-TruidenV.V. and OH Leuven.

Stadia and locations

ClubLocationVenueCapacity
AnderlechtConstant Vanden Stock Stadium21,000
BruggeJan Breydel Stadium29,945
CharleroiStade du Pays de Charleroi25,000
BruggeJan Breydel Stadium29,945
GenkCristal Arena24,900
GhentGhelamco Arena20,000
KortrijkGuldensporen Stadion9,500
LierHerman Vanderpoortenstadion14,538
LokerenDaknamstadion10,000
MechelenArgosstadion Achter de Kazerne13,123
MouscronStade Le Canonnier10,800
OstendAlbertpark8,125
LiègeStade Maurice Dufrasne30,000
BeverenFreethiel Stadion13,290
WesterloHet Kuipje7,982
WaregemRegenboogstadion8,500

Personnel and kits

ClubChairmanManagerManufacturerSponsors
Roger Vanden Stock Besnik HasiadidasBNP Paribas Fortis
Paul Vanhaecke Dennis van WijkMasitaADMB
Fabien Debecq Felice MazzuMapsbelgacom
Bart Verhaeghe Michel Preud'hommeNikeproximus
Herbert Houben Alex McLeishNikebeobank
Michel Louwagie Hein VanhaezebrouckMasita/JartaziVDK
Joseph Allijns Yves VanderhaegheJakoAGO Jobs
Maged Samy Olivier GuillouJakoWadi Degla
Roger Lambrecht Peter MaesJartaziQTeam
Johan Timmermans Aleksandar JankovićKappaTelenet
Edward Van Daele Fernando Da CruzNikeTradeCo
Marc Coucke Frederik VanderbiestJomaVersluys
Roland Duchâtelet José RigaJomaBASE
Jozef Van Remoortel Guido BrepoelsJakoRemo Frit
Herman Wijnants Harm van VeldhovenSallerSoudal
Willy Naessens Francky DuryPatrickRecord Bank

Managerial changes

Regular season

League table

Results

Championship playoff

The points obtained during the regular season were halved before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 31 points, Gent 29, Anderlecht 29, Standard 27, Kortrijk 26 and Charleroi 25. Had any ties occurred at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted if it was added. However, as all six teams received the half point bonus, this did not make a difference this season.

Playoff table

Europa League playoff

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 were placed in Group B.

Group A

Group B

Europa League playoff final

The winners of both playoff groups, Mechelen and Lokeren, compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship playoff, called Testmatch. The winners of this Testmatch will be granted entry to the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
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Mechelen won 4–3 on aggregate.

Testmatches Europa League

The Europa League playoff final was played over two legs between the Europa league playoff final winners, Mechelen, and the fifth-placed finisher of the championship playoff, Charleroi. The winners qualifies for the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
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Charleroi wins 3-2 on aggregate

Relegation Playoff

The teams that finished in the last two positions will face each other in the relegation playoff. Lierse was sure of ending up in the relegation playoff after losing away to Gent on 7 March 2015, while Cercle Brugge qualified one week later after losing 2–3 at home to Mechelen.
The winner of this playoff will play the second division playoff with three Belgian Second Division teams, with only the winner of that playoff playing at the highest level the next season. Lierse failed to win the Belgian Second Division playoff resulting in their relegation, in addition to Cercle Brugge.
The matches in the table below were played from left to right:

Season statistics

Source:
Up to and including matches played on 24 May 2015.''

Top scorers

PositionPlayerClubGoals
1 Aleksandar MitrovićAnderlecht20
2 Ivan SantiniKortrijk15
3 Renaud EmondWaasland-Beveren14
3 Geoffrey Mujangi BiaStandard Liège14
5 Laurent DepoitreGent13
5 José IzquierdoClub Brugge13
5 Dalibor VeselinovićMechelen13
8 Teddy ChevalierKortrijk12
8 Abdoulay DiabyMouscron-Péruwelz12
8 Mijat MarićLokeren12

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Nicolás CastilloClub Brugge*Westerlo9 November 2014
Moses SimonGentLokeren*1 February 2015
Ivan Santini4Kortrijk*Westerlo21 February 2015
John Jairo RuizOostendeZulte Waregem*15 March 2015
Zinho GanoMouscron-PéruwelzWesterlo*4 April 2015