The 2018–19 Belgian First Division A (officially known as Jupiler Pro League) was the 116th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
Team changes Mechelen was relegated after finishing last in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division A, ending a streak of 11 seasons at the highest level. Cercle Brugge was promoted after winning the promotion play-offs against Beerschot Wilrijk. The club returns to the highest tier three seasons after relegation from the Belgian Pro League in 2014–15.
Teams
Stadiums and locations
Matricule Club Location Venue Capacity 35 Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 21,500 1 Antwerp Bosuilstadion 12,975 12 Bruges Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042 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 12,000 216 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 Karim Belhocine Adrien Trebel Adidas BNP Paribas Fortis Antwerp László Bölöni Faris Haroun Jako Heylen Vastgoed Cercle Brugge José Jeunechamps Benjamin Lambot Erima ADMB Charleroi Felice Mazzu Francisco Martos Kappa Proximus Club Brugge Ivan Leko Ruud Vormer Macron Daikin Eupen Claude Makélélé Luis García Nike Aspire Academy Excel Mouscron Bernd Storck Jérémy Huyghebaert Erima Star Casino Genk Philippe Clement Alejandro Pozuelo Nike Beobank Gent Jess Thorup Nana Asare Craft vdk bank Kortrijk Yves Vanderhaeghe Hannes Van der Bruggen Jako AGO Jobs & HR Lokeren Glen De Boeck Killian Overmeire Beltona QTeam Oostende Franky Van der Elst Nicolas Lombaerts Joma Willems Veranda's Sint-Truiden Marc Brys Jordan Botaka Olympic Golden Palace Standard Liège Michel Preud'homme Sébastien Pocognoli New Balance BASE Waasland-Beveren Adnan Čustović Milan Massop Kappa Circus.be Zulte-Waregem Francky Dury Davy De fauw Patrick Willy Naessens Group
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment Sint-Truiden Jonas De RoeckReplaced End of 2017–18 season Pre-season Marc Brys 21 May 2018 Oostende Adnan Čustović End of 2017–18 season Gert Verheyen 25 April 2018 Cercle Brugge Franky Vercauteren Mutual consent End of 2017–18 season Laurent Guyot 6 June 2018 Standard Liège Ricardo Sá Pinto Resigned End of 2017–18 season Michel Preud'homme 23 May 2018 Waasland-Beveren Dirk Geeraerd Caretaker replaced End of 2017–18 season Yannick Ferrera 8 June 2018 Excel Mouscron Frank DefaysSacked 30 August 2018 16th Bernd Storck 2 September 2018 Gent Yves Vanderhaeghe 8 October 2018 7th Jess Thorup 10 October 2018 Lokeren Peter Maes 27 October 2018 15th Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) 27 October 2018 Lokeren Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) Caretaker replaced 2 November 2018 16th Trond Sollied 2 November 2018 Waasland-Beveren Yannick FerreraSacked 11 November 2018 14th Adnan Čustović 17 November 2018 Kortrijk Glen De Boeck 15 November 2018 12th Yves Vanderhaeghe 15 November 2018 Anderlecht Hein Vanhaezebrouck 16 December 2018 4th Karim Belhocine (caretaker) 16 December 2018 Anderlecht Karim Belhocine (caretaker) Caretaker replaced 6 January 2019 5th Fred Rutten 6 January 2019 Lokeren Trond Sollied Sacked 20 January 2019 16th Glen De Boeck 20 January 2019 Oostende Gert Verheyen Resigned 6 March 2019 14th Hugo Broos (caretaker) 6 March 2019 Anderlecht Fred Rutten Mutual consent 16 April 2019 Regular season: 4thChampionship POs: 5th Karim Belhocine (caretaker) 16 April 2019 Oostende Hugo Broos (caretaker) Resigned 29 April 2019 Regular season: 14thEuropa League POs: 4th Franky Van der Elst (caretaker) 29 April 2019 Cercle Brugge Laurent Guyot Mutual consent 2 May 2019 Regular season: 13thEuropa League POs: 4th José Jeunechamps (caretaker) 2 May 2019
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: Genk 32 points, Club Brugge 28, Standard Liège 27, Anderlecht 26, Gent 25 and Antwerp 25. The points of Genk, Standard Liège, Anderlecht and Antwerp were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.
League table
Europa League play-offs Group A of the play-offs consist 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 2018–19 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 were joined by the second placed qualifier from the 2018–19 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 team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match was played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. Charleroi advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
Final The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. Antwerp qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
Number of teams by provinces Number of teams Province or region Team(s)5Cercle Brugge, Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem3Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren2Charleroi and Excel Mouscron Eupen and Standard LiègeGenk and Sint-Truiden1AntwerpAnderlecht
Season statistics
Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Hamdi HarbaouiZulte Waregem252 Mbwana SamattaGenk233 Ivan SantiniAnderlecht16 Victor OsimhenCharleroi5 Daichi KamadaSint-Truiden15 Felipe AvenattiKortrijk7 Leandro TrossardGenk14 Theo BongondaZulte Waregem Hans VanakenClub Brugge10 Ruslan MalinovskyiGenk13
Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean sheets1 Danny VukovicGenk142 Sinan BolatAntwerp133 Ethan HorvathClub Brugge114 Jean ButezExcel Mouscron9 Thomas DidillonAnderlecht Guillermo OchoaStandard Liège7 Thomas KaminskiKortrijk / Gent88 Nicolas PenneteauCharleroi79 Hendrik Van CrombruggeEupen610 Ortwin De WolfLokeren5 Awards Annual awards Award Winner Club Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year Hans Vanaken Club Brugge Belgian Professional Football Manager of the Year Philippe Clement Genk Belgian Professional Football Young Player of the Year Yari Verschaeren Anderlecht Team of the Season Goalkeeper Sinan Bolat(Antwerp) Defence Sébastien Dewaest(Genk) Brandon Mechele(Club Brugge) Takehiro Tomiyasu(Sint-Truiden) Midfield Sander Berge(Genk) Răzvan Marin(Standard Liège) Ruslan Malinovskyi(Genk) Hans Vanaken(Club Brugge) Attack Mbwana Samatta(Genk) Wesley Moraes(Club Brugge) Leandro Trossard(Genk)
Attendances Source:
No. Club Average attendance Change Highest 1 Club Brugge 24,399 -6,8% 27,672 2 Standard de Liège 22,929 4,3% 27,245 3 Anderlecht 19,102 -0,9% 21,000 4 Genk 18,700 19,7% 23,624 5 Gent 17,250 -7,1% 20,000 6 Royal Antwerp 13,040 6,8% 15,408 7 Charleroi 8,341 -20,6% 12,653 8 Zulte Waregem 7,533 -14,5% 10,756 9 STVV 6,302 -1,5% 14,000 10 Kortrijk 6,163 -11,0% 9,127 11 Cercle Brugge 5,658 -0,2% 13,222 12 Oostende 4,790 -17,0% 7,500 13 Lokeren 4,541 -21,0% 7,070 14 Mouscron 3,655 -33,5% 8,872 15 Waasland-Beveren 3,547 -22,8% 6,957 16 Eupen 2,683 -19,1% 5,522
Notes
References