The 2015–16 season was Oud-Heverlee Leuven's 14th competitive season in professional football and the team's fourth season in the Belgian Pro League. Following a loss on the final day of the regular season at home against Club Brugge, OH Leuven dropped into 16th place and was relegated as Westerlo beat Waasland-Beveren. OH Leuven also had a mediocre cup run, struggling past Belgian Second Division team Lommel United before falling 1-0 to Mouscron-Péruwelz.

2015–16 squad This section lists players who were in Oud-Heveree Leuven's first team squad at any point during the 2015–16 season The symbol § indicates player left mid-season The symbol # indicates player joined mid-season Italics indicate loan player

No. Nationality Name Position Joined Signed From Goalkeepers 1 Yves Lenaerts GK 2010 Club Brugge 21 Nick Gillekens GK 2015 Youth 26 Rudy Riou GK 2015 Lens Defenders 2 Kenny Van Hoevelen CB 2014 Mechelen 3 David Vandenbroeck§ CB 2014 Tubize 4 Romain Reynaud CB 2014 Kortrijk 5 Pierre-Yves Ngawa RB 2015 Lierse 6 Jean Calvé# RB 2015 Caen 16 Konstantinos Rougalas CB 2015 Iraklis 17 Slobodan Urošević LB Loan Napredak Kruševac 24 Nicolas Delporte LB 2014 Gent 25 Kanu# CB 2016 Vitória Guimarães 28 Oleksandr Volovyk CB / LB Loan Shakhtar Donetsk 29 Pieter-Jan Monteyne LB 2015 Mouscron-Péruwelz Midfielders 8 / Flavien Le Postollec CM 2014 Mons 10 Yohan Croizet AM 2014 Virton 12 Kenneth Houdret CM Loan Charleroi 15 / John Bostock CM 2014 Antwerp 22 Samuel Asamoah CM Loan Eupen 24 Kevin Tapoko§ CM 2015 Dessel Sport 30 Jordy Lokando CM 2015 Youth 31 Charni Ekangamene# CM Loan Zulte Waregem Forwards 7 Jordan Remacle RW / CF 2015 Lokeren 9 Romero Regales CF 2015 Lommel United 11 Alessandro Cerigioni CF 2013 Lommel United 14 Thomas Azevedo LW / RW 2011 Lommel United 19 Leandro Trossard AM / LW / RW Loan Genk 20 Din Sula CF 2015 Youth 23 Jovan Kostovski CF 2013 Vardar 27 Kim Ojo CF 2015 Genk

Transfers

Following the promotion from the Belgian Second Division on 26 May 2015 by virtue of winning the play-offs, only few players were deemed capable of competing at the highest level. The squad consisted of many decent players, but at least ten new players would need to be signed and only former Belgian international goalkeeper Logan Bailly and young wingback Dion Cools were often named as having sufficient skills. Both players would leave OH Leuven throughout the summer however, as Bailly was signed as a back-up for Craig Gordon by Scottish giants Celtic, while 19-year-old Cools was signed by Club Brugge because of his great potential. Other departures included fan favorite Kenny Thompson and striker on loan Giuseppe Rossini who had both announced their departure before the promotion was achieved while secondary striker Ibrahim Somé and young goalkeeper Senne Vits also left the team soon after the promotion as they were signed by WS Brussels and Standard Liège respectively. The contracts of Abdul-Yakuni Iddi, David Wijns and Ben Yagan were not renewed and the players released, while youngster Simon Bracke was loaned to Second Division team ASV Geel and defender Matthias Trenson was given a free transfer to Belgian Third Division team Hasselt.

Following all these departures, OH Leuven was forced to sign several new players to strengthen the squad. Mid-June three signings were announced, including return of popular winger and former OH Leuven player Jordan Remacle who was part of the 2010–11 Belgian Second Division title winning team, scoring 15 league goals that season, the signing of 23-year old defender Pierre-Yves Ngawa from relegated side Lierse and the 2014–15 Belgian Second Division top scorer Romero Regales. In July, manager Jacky Mathijssen brought in 21-year old Greek defender Konstantinos Rougalas, who he had worked with two years earlier when they were together at Fostiras and announced the loan deals of no less than four midfielders: Samuel Asamoah, Kenneth Houdret, Leandro Trossard and Slobodan Urošević. With the departure of first goalkeeper Logan Bailly and reserve keeper Senne Vits, the team was down to two goalkeepers, Yves Lenaerts and Nick Gillekens, leading to the signing of French experienced 35-year old goalkeeper Rudy Riou, who would turn out to become the first goalkeeper, with Lenaerts his backup.

Towards the end of the summer 2015 transfer window, OH Leuven loaned Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Volovyk from Shakhtar Donetsk and signed wingback Pieterjan Monteyne and striker Kim Ojo. This in turn led to the departure of Olivier Lusamba who was given a free transfer, while both Yohan Brouckaert and Kenneth Van Goethem were loaned out to Belgian Second Division teams as they were unlikely to be getting much time on the field. Defender Kenny Van Hoevelen was also deemed surplus, but remained in the squad and would not play a single minute throughout the season, except for matches with the reserves.

In the weeks prior to the winter 2015–16 transfer window, OHL signed free agent player Jean Calvé as a backup for Pierre-Yves Ngawa while releasing midfielder Kevin Tapoko after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, while during the transfer window itself defender David Vandenbroeck opted to leave the team as he did not receive much playing time. He was replaced by experienced Brazilian defender Kanu who already knew the Belgian competition after playing three seasons with Standard Liège earlier in his career. OH Leuven had also announced the arrival of Serbian midfielder Marko Poletanović on loan from Gent, however the deal did not materialize as the player did not agree to the transfer. Towards the end of the transfer window, youngster Charni Ekangamene was loaned from Zulte Waregem instead.

Transfers In Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. 16 June 2015 MF Jordan Remacle Lokeren Undisclosed 17 June 2015 DF Pierre-Yves Ngawa Lierse Undisclosed 17 June 2015 FW Romero Regales Lommel United Undisclosed 2 July 2015 DF Konstantinos Rougalas Iraklis Undisclosed 2 July 2015 MF Slobodan Urošević Napredak Kruševac Loan 7 July 2015 MF Leandro Trossard Genk Loan 8 July 2015 MF Kenneth Houdret Charleroi Loan 16 July 2015 MF Samuel Asamoah Eupen Loan 22 July 2015 GK Rudy Riou Lens Undisclosed 20 August 2015 DF Oleksandr Volovyk Shakhtar Donetsk Loan 21 August 2015 DF Pieterjan Monteyne Mouscron-Péruwelz Undisclosed 31 August 2015 FW Kim Ojo Genk Undisclosed 17 December 2015 DF Jean Calvé Free Agent NA 29 December 2015 DF Kanu Vitória Guimarães Undisclosed 1 February 2016 MF Charni Ekangamene Zulte Waregem Loan

Transfers Out Date to Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 23 April 2015 DF Kenny Thompson Beerschot Wilrijk Free transfer 4 May 2015 FW Giuseppe Rossini Charleroi Loan Return 26 May 2015 GK Senne Vits Standard Liège Undisclosed 28 May 2015 FW Ibrahim Somé WS Brussels Undisclosed End of 2014–15 season MF Abdul-Yakuni Iddi Mechelen Loan Return End of 2014–15 season DF David Wijns Heist Free End of 2014–15 season FW Ben Yagan Free Agent End of contract 19 June 2015 DF Dion Cools Club Brugge Undisclosed 8 July 2015 MF Simon Bracke ASV Geel Loan 8 July 2015 GK Logan Bailly Celtic Undisclosed 8 July 2015 DF Matthias Trenson Hasselt Free 20 August 2015 FW Olivier Lusamba Aalst Free 29 August 2015 MF Yohan Brouckaert Roeselare Loan 31 August 2015 MF Kenneth Van Goethem Heist Loan 23 December 2015 MF Kevin Tapoko Free Agent Contract terminated by mutual consent 11 January 2016 DF David Vandenbroeck Differdange Free

Pre-season In the month following the promotion to the Belgian Pro League, OH Leuven renewed partnerships with several of its sponsors. They first confirmed extended partnerships with Rayden Transport, Tegelconcept, GMS-Group and Dataflow before announcing Just Eat as the new lead shirt sponsor replacing Option, the company led by former OHL chairman Jan Callewaert. A few weeks later, Federale Verzekering also prolongs its sponsorship agreement, followed by Eneco, coming in as a new sponsor at the start of season. Meanwhile, Patrick De Wilde was brought into the staff as technical coordinator and the players are required to return to training on 22 June 2015.

On 8 June 2015, the Belgian Pro League fixtures for the 2015–16 season are announced. Oud-Heverlee Leuven opens the season with an away match to Genk on 25 July 2015, while Anderlecht will be the first opponent to come and play at Den Dreef on matchday 2. One week later, the appointed commission of the Royal Belgian Football Association approves the planned reform of the Belgian football league system which will mean that in contrast to the previous seasons only the team finishing in last position will relegate from the Belgian Pro League, while the team in 15th place will be safe.

OHL kicks of the series of friendlies with three matches against local teams from lower divisions. The first game results in a 0-12 victory away to sixth division team Linden, a match in which no less than 21 players were used. Five players did not play due to minor injuries, including Logan Bailly, Yohan Brouckaert and newcomers Romero Regales and Jordan Remacle. Four days later against a very defensive Kortenberg, also playing in the sixth division, the match went much more difficult, with OHL only managing to score two goals prompting coach Jacky Mathijssen to state that "it was a bit dull" and that "he expected more of his players". Three days later, at temperatures close to 30 degrees Celsius, the team beat Bierbeek from the fifth division by four goals to one. Following a week of training, OHL lost its first match of the season away to Belgian Second Division team Heist, with John Bostock scoring the consolation goal from a penalty kick, which was followed by a 0-3 win against Cercle Brugge three days later, with Jovan Kostovski working hard and scoring twice. On 15 July 2015, a 1-1 draw was obtained against Belgian Fourth Division team Tessenderlo in a match which featured mostly the players that had not received much playing time thus far, including a first starting lineup position for new striker Romero Regales. Following the match, assistant coach Hans Vander Elst states that "except for Yohan Brouckaert, everyone will be fit for the start of the season". Named as the dress rehearsal match, the friendly against Differdange from Luxembourg was seen as the final test to prepare for the start of the competition. Jordan Remacle scored twice before halftime, while Croizet, Houdret, Regales and Sula each added one more goal in a convincing 1-6 away win.

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultScorersReport124 June 2015 LindenA12–0Nelissen 17', Croizet (2) 21', 43', Soladio (2) 23', 44', Cerigioni 25', Kostovski (2) 50', 85', Houben 58', Tapoko 66', Sula 69', Bracke 71' pen.Report228 June 2015 KortenbergA2–0Kostovski 28', Reynaud 83' pen.Report31 July 2015 BierbeekA4–1Van Hoevelen 17', Ngawa 29', Delporte 75', Azevedo 81' pen.Report48 July 2015 HeistA1–3Bostock 19' pen.Report511 July 2015 Cercle BruggeA3–0Kostovski (2) 46', 56', 62' o.g.Report615 July 2015 TessenderloA1–1Lokando 44'Report719 July 2015 DifferdangeA6–1Remacle (2) 10' pen., 44', Croizet 46', Regales 61', Houdret 63', Sula 89'Report

Belgian Pro League

OHL's fourth season in the Belgian Pro League began on 25 July 2015.

Results