Contents
History of the Belgian Pro League
Origins & establishment (1895-early 20th century)
The Belgian Pro League was founded in 1895 by the Royal Belgian Football Association, which makes it one of the oldest football competitions in the world. The first season, in 1895–96, had seven founding teams. FC Liégeois emerged as the first champions. In its early days, the competition was a knockout tournament, but it gradually changed into a more structured league with home and away matches after 1902–03.
Growth & legacy
Over the years, the league expanded and became more official. A total of 74 clubs have played in the top tier, and 16 of them have won the championship. The most successful club in history is R.S.C. Anderlecht, with 34 league titles.
Sponsorship & rebranding
For a long time, the league was known as the Belgian First Division A or Belgian Pro League. It was rebranded as the Jupiler Pro League in 2016 to reflect a sponsorship deal with the Jupiler beer brand.
Modern era & format evolution
In the 2023–24 season, the league returned to a structure with 16 teams. This includes a regular season followed by playoffs: the Championship Playoffs, the Europe Playoffs, and the Relegation Playoffs. This format is designed to keep the competition fierce until the end of the season.
The 2025–26 season is currently underway, and the league is preparing to expand to 18 teams in 2026–27. Under this new structure, there will be no automatic relegations at the end of the 2025–26 season. Instead, the team at the bottom of the league will play a decider against the Challenger Pro League’s play-off winner to decide which team will be relegated.
Structure & format
Number of clubs
For the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, the Pro League has been made up of 16 teams. However, starting from the 2026-27 season, the league will expand back to 18 teams, and the complex play-off system will be scrapped in favour of a simpler, traditional league format.
Current (2023-25) split-season format
The league currently operates with a play-off system that is split into three parts after the regular season ends.
– Regular season: Each of the 16 teams plays every other team twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 30 matches.
– Championship play-offs (“play-off I”): The top six teams from the regular season advance to this stage. Their points are halved and rounded up before they start. The clubs then play each other twice more to decide the league champion and the European qualification spots.
– Europe play-offs (“play-off II”): This is for the teams that finish in 7th to 12th place. Their points are also halved and rounded up before they start a round-robin format. The winner of this play-off then plays against a team from the Championship Play-offs for the final European qualification spot.
– Relegation play-offs: The bottom four teams (13th-16th) compete in a round-robin format. Their points from the regular season are carried over in full. The bottom two teams are directly relegated, and the third-placed team plays against the 3rd-placed team from the Challenger Pro League to stay in the division.
Format transition & expansion (2025-26 to 2026-27)
The 2025-26 season will be a transitional year. It will still use the current play-off format, but with some changes to relegation. The teams that finish in 14th and 15th place are guaranteed to be safe. The team that finishes last (16th) will play in a relegation play-off against the winner of the Challenger Pro League’s promotion play-offs.
From the 2026-27 season onwards, the league will return to a straightforward 18-team format with no playoffs. The champion will simply be the team at the top of the league table at the end of the season. The bottom two teams will be automatically relegated, while the top teams from the Challenger Pro League will be promoted directly.
Promotion & relegation
The Belgian Pro League has a unique promotion and relegation system that’s been undergoing changes. Here’s a clear breakdown of how it works now and how it’s changing in the coming years.
Current system (2023–2026)
The league, which has 16 teams, uses a split-season format after the regular 30-match season. Teams from 13th to 16th place enter the Relegation Playoffs. In these playoffs, all points from the regular season are carried over in full.
– The two teams that finish last (15th and 16th) are directly relegated to the Challenger Pro League.
– The team in 14th place has to play in a promotion/relegation playoff match against the team that wins the Challenger Pro League playoffs to keep their spot in the top flight.
Meanwhile, in the Challenger Pro League (the second division), the champion and runner-up get promoted directly. The teams that finish from 3rd to 6th play off against each other to see who gets the chance to play the Pro League’s 14th-placed team.
Transition year (2025–26)
The 2025-26 season will be a transitional one. It will still use the current playoff system, but with some changes to relegation.
– The teams that finish 14th and 15th are guaranteed to stay in the Pro League.
– The team that finishes last (16th) will have to play a relegation playoff against the winner of the Challenger Pro League’s Promotion Playoffs.
The top two clubs from the Challenger Pro League will be promoted directly, while teams that finish from 3rd to 6th will play for the chance to face the last-placed Pro League team.
The new format from 2026–27 onwards
Starting from the 2026-27 season, the league is returning to a classic, straightforward format with 18 teams.
– The playoff system will be completely abolished.
– The team that finishes first in the league will be crowned champion.
– The teams that finish 2nd to 4th will get a spot in European competitions, along with the winner of the Belgian Cup.
– The bottom two teams in the league will be directly relegated to the Challenger Pro League, with no relegation playoffs.
Notable records & achievements
All-time records
– Most appearances: The record for the most matches played in the Belgian Pro League belongs to Raymond Mommens, who played in 614 games.
– All-time top goalscorer: Albert De Cleyn is the league’s all-time leading goalscorer, having netted 377 goals during his career.
Single-season & top scoring feats
– Single-season record: The highest number of goals scored in a single season is 41, a record held jointly by Arthur Ceuleers and Jules Van Craen during the 1942–43 season.
– Most top scorer titles: Erwin Vandenbergh has won the top scorer award more times than anyone else, with a total of six awards.
Notable career scoring ranks (all-time leaders)
Based on the latest data, here are the top all-time goal scorers in the Belgian Pro League:
- Albert De Cleyn 377
- Joseph Mermans 339
- Bernard Voorhoof 281
- Arthur Ceuleers 280
- Rik Coppens 258
- Erwin Vandenbergh 252
- Paul Van Himst 237
- Jan Ceulemans 230
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