The 2017–18 Belgian First Division A was the 115th season of top-tier football in Belgium. The season began on 28 July 2017 and concluded on 20 May 2018. The fixtures were announced in early June 2017. Anderlecht were the defending champions but had to settle for third place with Club Brugge taking their 15th title.
Team changes Westerlo was relegated after finishing last in the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A. Antwerp was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Roeselare.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Matricule Club Location Venue Capacity 35 Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,500 1 Antwerp Bosuilstadion 12,975 22 Charleroi Stade du Pays de Charleroi 14,000 3 Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042 4276 Eupen Kehrweg Stadion 8,363 322 Genk Luminus Arena 24,956 7 Ghent Ghelamco Arena 20,000 19 Kortrijk Guldensporen Stadion 9,399 282 Lokeren Daknamstadion 12,000 25 Mechelen AFAS-stadion Achter de Kazerne 16,700 216 Mouscron Stade Le Canonnier 10,571 31 Ostend Versluys Arena 8,432 373 Sint-Truiden Stayen 14,600 16 Liège Stade Maurice Dufrasne 30,023 4068 Beveren Freethiel Stadion 8,190 5381 Waregem Regenboogstadion 12,500
Personnel and kits Club Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Sponsors Anderlecht Hein Vanhaezebrouck Leander Dendoncker Adidas BNP Paribas Fortis Antwerp László Bölöni Faris Haroun Jako Star Casino Charleroi Felice Mazzu Francisco Martos Hungaria Proximus Club Brugge Ivan Leko Ruud Vormer Macron Daikin Eupen Claude Makélélé Luis García Nike Aspire Academy Excel Mouscron Frank Defays Dimitri Mohamed Erima Star Casino Genk Philippe Clement Thomas Buffel Nike Beobank Gent Yves Vanderhaeghe Nana Akwasi Asare Jartazi VDK Spaarbank Kortrijk Glen De Boeck Hannes Van der Bruggen Jako AGO Jobs & HR Lokeren Peter Maes Killian Overmeire Jartazi QTeam Mechelen Dennis van Wijk Seth De Witte Jartazi Telenet Oostende Adnan Čustović Nicolas Lombaerts Joma Willems Veranda's Sint-Truiden Jonas De Roeck Steven De Petter Kappa Golden Palace Standard Liège Ricardo Sá Pinto Sébastien Pocognoli New Balance BASE Waasland-Beveren Dirk Geeraerd Rudy Camacho Kappa Circus Zulte-Waregem Francky Dury Davy De fauw Patrick Record Bank
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment Waasland-Beveren Čedomir Janevski Mutual consent End of 2016–17 season Pre-season Philippe Clement 24 May 2017 Club Brugge Michel Preud'homme Mutual consent End of 2016–17 season Ivan Leko 8 June 2017 Kortrijk Karim Belhocine Replaced End of 2016–17 season Yannis Anastasiou 20 May 2017 Standard Liège José Jeunechamps (caretaker) Caretaker replaced End of 2016–17 season Ricardo Sá Pinto 11 June 2017 Sint-Truiden Ivan Leko Signed by Club Brugge 8 June 2017 Tintín Márquez 22 June 2017 Antwerp Wim De Decker Demoted to assistant coach 16 June 2017 László Bölöni 16 June 2017 Sint-Truiden Tintín Márquez Sacked 7 August 2017 8th Jonas De Roeck 10 August 2017 Lokeren Rúnar Kristinsson Sacked 9 August 2017 15th Peter Maes 9 August 2017 Anderlecht René Weiler Sacked 18 September 2017 9th Nicolás Frutos (caretaker) 18 September 2017 Oostende Yves Vanderhaeghe Sacked 19 September 2017 16th Adnan Čustović 19 September 2017 Gent Hein Vanhaezebrouck Mutual consent 27 September 2017 14th Yves Vanderhaeghe 4 October 2017 Anderlecht Nicolás Frutos Caretaker replaced 3 October 2017 7th Hein Vanhaezebrouck 3 October 2017 Mechelen Yannick Ferrera Sacked 23 October 2017 15th Tom Caluwé (caretaker) 23 October 2017 Mechelen Tom Caluwé (caretaker) Caretaker replaced 1 November 2017 16th Aleksandar Janković 1 November 2017 Eupen Jordi Condom Sacked 6 November 2017 16th Claude Makélélé 6 November 2017 Kortrijk Yannis Anastasiou Sacked 8 November 2017 15th Glen De Boeck 8 November 2017 Genk Albert Stuivenberg Sacked 10 December 2017 9th Philippe Clement 19 December 2017 Waasland-Beveren Philippe Clement Signed for Genk 19 December 2017 7th Sven Vermant 5 January 2018 Mechelen Aleksandar Janković Sacked 24 January 2018 15th Dennis van Wijk 24 January 2018 Excel Mouscron Mircea Rednic Sacked 14 February 2018 12th Frank Defays 14 February 2018 Waasland-Beveren Sven Vermant Sacked 9 May 2018 Regular season: 12thEuropa League POs: 6th Dirk Geeraerd (caretaker) 9 May 2018
Regular season League table
Results
Championship play-offs The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. As a result, the teams started with the following points before the playoff: Club Brugge 34 points, Anderlecht 28, Charleroi 26, Gent 25, Genk 22 and Standard Liège 22. The points of Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Charleroi were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point would be deducted for these teams.
League table
Europa League play-offs Group A of the play-offs consisted of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season, and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 joined the second placed qualifier from the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B in group B.
Group A
Group B
Semi-final The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed or fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. Zulte Waregem received home advantage as they finished higher in the regular season. Despite going down twice with 10 men, Zulte Waregem won, which meant they advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.
Final The winners of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fifth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winners. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.
Number of teams by provinces Number of teams Province or region Team(s)4Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem3Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren2Antwerp and MechelenCharleroi and Excel Mouscron Eupen and Standard LiègeGenk and Sint-Truiden 1Anderlecht
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Hamdi HarbaouiZulte Waregem222 Teddy ChevalierKV Kortrijk213 Isaac Kiese ThelinWaasland-Beveren194 Kaveh RezaeiSporting Charleroi165 Lukasz TeodorczykRSC Anderlecht15 Abdoulay DiabyClub Brugge15
Hat-tricks Rnd Player Club Goals Date Home Score Away 11 Isaac Kiese Thelin Waasland-Beveren Zulte Waregem 2 – 5 Waasland-Beveren 12 Brecht Capon KV Oostende KV Oostende 3 – 0 Sporting Charleroi 24 Sofiane Hanni RSC Anderlecht Standard Liège 3 – 3 RSC Anderlecht 26 Teddy Chevalier KV Kortrijk KV Kortrijk 4 – 0 Royal Antwerp 28 Łukasz Teodorczyk RSC Anderlecht RSC Anderlecht 5 – 3 Excel Mouscron 30 Yuta Toyokawa KAS Eupen KAS Eupen 4 – 0 Excel Mouscron 33 Hamdi Harbaoui S.V. Zulte Waregem S.V. Zulte Waregem 5 – 1 Excel Mouscron 34 Hamdi Harbaoui S.V. Zulte Waregem Lierse S.K. 1 – 4 S.V. Zulte Waregem Updated to match(es) played on 14 April 2018.
Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Ruud VormerClub Brugge KV162 Ryota MoriokaWaasland-Beveren/RSC Anderlecht133 Hans VanakenClub Brugge KV114 Idir OualiKV Kortrijk8 Răzvan MarinStandard Liège8
Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets1 Sinan BolatRoyal Antwerp FC142 Lovre KalinićKAA Gent133 Danny VukovicKRC Genk104 Matz SelsRSC Anderlecht9 Nicolas PenneteauSporting Charleroi9 Awards Annual awards Award Winner Club Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year Hans Vanaken Club Brugge Belgian Professional Football Manager of the Year Ivan Leko Club Brugge Belgian Professional Football Young Player of the Year Wesley Moraes Club Brugge Team of the Season Team of the Season Goalkeeper Sinan Bolat(Antwerp) Defence Luis Pedro Cavanda(Standard Liège) Christian Luyindama(Standard Liège) Brandon Mechele(Club Brugge) Jere Uronen(Genk) Midfield Ruud Vormer(Club Brugge) Marvelous Nakamba(Club Brugge) Attack Stallone Limbombe(Antwerp) Geoffry Hairemans(Antwerp) Leandro Trossard(Genk) Striker Hamdi Harbaoui(Zulte Waregem)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Average attendance Change Highest 1 Club Brugge 26,183 -2,4% 28,500 2 Standard de Liège 21,985 19,5% 27,602 3 Anderlecht 19,275 2,2% 21,000 4 Gent 18,571 -6,3% 20,000 5 Genk 15,623 2,2% 19,755 6 Mechelen 12,998 12,9% 16,713 7 Royal Antwerp 12,214 5,7% 16,649 8 Charleroi 10,502 7,7% 14,330 9 Zulte Waregem 8,809 -8,8% 12,300 10 Kortrijk 6,922 31,0% 9,340 11 STVV 6,396 0,5% 14,600 12 Oostende 5,773 -20,9% 8,432 13 Lokeren 5,749 -6,3% 12,000 14 Mouscron 5,497 92,8% 10,571 15 Waasland-Beveren 4,592 17,4% 8,235 16 Eupen 3,315 13,6% 8,300
Notes
References