2019–20 Belgian First Division A


The 2019–20 Belgian First Division A was the 117th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
On 2 April 2020, the Jupiler Pro League's board of directors agreed to propose to cancel the season early during the COVID-19 pandemic. Should this proposal be accepted, Club Brugge will be awarded the title. In the meantime UEFA has threatened to ban teams in Europe in case their respective leagues were terminated early without trying to have all remaining matches completed. The decision of whether to accept this proposal was initially meant to be decided by a vote at a meeting on 15 April 2020, but had been postponed three times.
The proposal was finally accepted by the General Assembly on 15 May 2020, confirming Club Brugge as 2019–20 First Division A champions.

Team changes

Theoretically, 2018–19 Belgian First Division B champions Mechelen would have replaced relegated Lokeren. However, as part of the 2017–19 Belgian football fraud scandal, Mechelen were found guilty of match-fixing at the end of the 2017–18 season, resulting in the club being relegated back to the First Division B and runners-up Beerschot taking the spot of Mechelen instead. Mechelen appealed the decision with the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sports, which confirmed that KV Mechelen was indeed guilty of match-fixing, but that according to the rules of the Royal Belgian Football Association, relegation is no longer a possible penalty as the match-fixing occurred more that one season ago. KV Mechelen was thus allowed to play in the Belgian First Division A, but did get banned from participating in the UEFA Europa League and the Belgian Cup for one season.

Format change

While the regular season remains unchanged, the end of season play-offs have been altered somewhat, specifically the Europa League play-offs will now be played by 16 instead of 12 teams. Taking part will be the bottom ten teams together with the six top teams from the Belgian First Division B, to be divided in four groups of four teams. The four group winners will play semi-finals and a final to determine the team which will play the fourth placed team from the championship play-offs for the remaining ticket into the UEFA Europa League. This change allows both the team relegating from the 2019–20 Belgian First Division A and the 2019–20 Belgian First Division B champion to take part in the Europa League play-offs, allowing these teams to bridge the gap of nearly six months without any matches as used to be the case in previous seasons.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

MatriculeClubLocationVenueCapacity
35AnderlechtConstant Vanden Stock Stadium21,500
1AntwerpBosuilstadion12,975
12BrugesJan Breydel Stadium29,042
22CharleroiStade du Pays de Charleroi14,000
3BrugesJan Breydel Stadium29,042
4276EupenKehrwegstadion8,363
322GenkLuminus Arena24,956
7GhentGhelamco Arena20,000
19KortrijkGuldensporen Stadion9,399
25MechelenAFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne16,700
216MouscronStade Le Canonnier10,571
31OstendVersluys Arena8,432
373Sint-TruidenStayen14,600
16LiègeStade Maurice Dufrasne30,023
4068BeverenFreethiel Stadion8,190
5381WaregemRegenboogstadion12,500

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes


TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPositionReplaced byDate of appointment
Oostende Franky Van der Elst ReplacedEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Kåre Ingebrigtsen6 May 2019
Mouscron Bernd StorckEnd of contractEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Bernd Hollerbach22 May 2019
Anderlecht Karim Belhocine ReplacedEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Simon Davies and Vincent Kompany25 May 2019 and 19 May 2019
Club Brugge Ivan LekoEnd of contractEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Philippe Clement24 May 2019
Genk Philippe ClementMoved to Club BruggeEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Felice Mazzù3 June 2019
Cercle Brugge José Jeunechamps End of caretaker spellEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Fabien Mercadal19 June 2019
Charleroi Felice MazzùMoved to GenkEnd of 2018–19 seasonPre-season Karim Belhocine21 June 2019
Eupen Claude MakéléléMutual consent14 June 2019Pre-season Beñat San José24 June 2019
Waasland-Beveren Adnan ČustovićSacked26 August 201916th Dirk Geeraerd 26 August 2019
Waasland-Beveren Dirk Geeraerd Caretaker replaced2 September 201916th Arnauld Mercier2 September 2019
Anderlecht Simon DaviesReplaced3 October 201913th Jonas De Roeck 3 October 2019
Anderlecht Jonas De Roeck Replaced7 October 201913th Franky Vercauteren7 October 2019
Cercle Brugge Fabien MercadalSacked7 October 201916th Bernd Storck12 October 2019
Genk Felice MazzùSacked12 November 20199th Hannes Wolf18 November 2019
Sint-Truiden Marc BrysSacked25 November 201911th Nicky Hayen 25 November 2019
Oostende Kåre IngebrigtsenBecame manager at APOEL FC28 December 201914th Dennis van Wijk31 December 2019
Sint-Truiden Nicky Hayen Caretaker replaced2 January 202011th Miloš Kostić2 January 2020
Mouscron Bernd HollerbachTemporarily replaced due to illness5 February 202011th Philippe Saint-Jean 5 February 2020
Waasland-Beveren Arnauld MercierSacked23 February 202016th Dirk Geeraerd 23 February 2020
Mouscron Philippe Saint-Jean Hollerbach recovered from illness25 February 202010th Bernd Hollerbach25 February 2020
Oostende Dennis van WijkSacked2 March 202015th Adnan Čustović3 March 2020

Regular season

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Dieumerci MbokaniAntwerp18
1 Jonathan DavidGent18
3 Hans VanakenClub Brugge13
4 Kaveh RezaeiCharleroi12
5 Lior RefaelovAntwerp11
6 Roman YaremchukGent10
6 Michel VlapAnderlecht10
6 Igor de CamargoMechelen10
9 Gianni BrunoZulte Waregem9

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean sheets
1 Simon MignoletClub Brugge16
2 Nicolas PenneteauCharleroi12
2 Hendrik Van CrombruggeAnderlecht12
4 Thomas KaminskiGent9
5 Sammy BossutZulte Waregem8
5 Arnaud BodartStandard Liège8
7 Ortwin De WolfEupen6
8 Daniel SchmidtSint-Truiden5
8 Sinan BolatAntwerp5
10 Gaëtan CouckeGenk4

Top assists

RankPlayerClubAssists
1 Ruud VormerClub Brugge14
2 Vadis Odjidja-OfoeGent9
3 Jonathan DavidGent8
4 Mehdi CarcelaStandard Liège7
4 Danijel MilićevićEupen7
4 Junya ItoGenk7
7 Facundo ColidioSint-Truiden6
7 Ali GholizadehCharleroi6
7 Nikola StormMechelen6
7 Onur KayaMechelen6