The 2021–22 season of the Belgian First Division B was the 7th season of the Belgian First Division B since its establishment in 2016. The season started in August 2021 and ended in April 2022. Westerlo won the title by a considerable margin over RWDM, the latter going onto lose the promotion play-off, failing to get promoted as a result. Virton ended in last place and would have been relegated, were it not for the fact that after the season Excel Mouscron was not awarded a licence, causing them to be relegated instead.
Team changes
In Royal Excel Mouscron were directly relegated from the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A after finishing last. Waasland-Beveren were also relegated from the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A, after losing the promotion/relegation play-offs against Seraing. Virton, who were denied both a professional and remunerated license at the end of the 2019–20 season and forced to relegate two levels as a result, successfully appealed this decision and were forced to be reinstated at this level.
Out Union SG were promoted from the 2020–21 Belgian First Division B as champions. Seraing were promoted to the 2021–22 Belgian First Division A after winning the promotion/relegation play-offs against Waasland-Beveren. Club NXT was removed as it was decided no longer to include U23 teams for the 2021–22 season.
Format changes
Initially, the plan was to change the format of the Belgian First Division B only for the 2020–21 season, with the league no longer consisting of two separate competitions but instead, one single league in which all teams play each other four times, without playoffs. This was however extended with at least one season, meaning the 2021–22 Belgian First Division B continues with the same format as the previous season.
Team information
Stadiums and locations
Matricule Club City First season of current spell at second level</th> Coming from 2020-21 result Stadium Capacity818Deinze2020–21Belgian First Amateur Division5th (D1B)Burgemeester Van de Wiele Stadion7,515216Mouscron2021–22Belgian First Division A18th (D1A) Stade Le Canonnier10,8003970Lier2020–21Belgian First Amateur Division7th (D1B)Herman Vanderpoortenstadion14,5382554Lommel2018–19Belgian First Amateur Division3rd (D1B)Soevereinstadion8,0005479Molenbeek2020–21Belgian First Amateur Division6th (D1B)Edmond Machtens Stadium12,266200Virton2021–22Belgian Division 2Unranked (D2) Stade Yvan Georges4,0154068Beveren2021–22Belgian First Division A17th (D1A) Freethiel Stadion8,1902024Westerlo2017–18Belgian First Division A4th (D1B)Het Kuipje8,035
Personnel and kits Club Manager Kit Manufacturer Sponsors Deinze Wim De Decker Legea Dakota Vastgoed & Declercq Stortbeton Excel Mouscron José Jeunechamps Uhlsport Star Casino Lierse Kempenzonen Tom Van Imschoot Jako Keukens Van Lommel Lommel Brian Eastick Masita United Telecom RWD Molenbeek Vincent Euvrard Joma Symbio Virton Pablo Correa Waasland-Beveren Jordi Condom Uhlsport Star Casino Westerlo Jonas De Roeck Saller Soudal
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position Replaced by Date of appointment Deinze Cédric Vlaeminck (caretaker) Caretaker replaced End of 2020–21 seasonPre-season Wim De Decker 4 March 2020 Westerlo Bob Peeters Sacked Jonas De Roeck 27 May 2021 Excel Mouscron Jorge Simão Hired by Paços Ferreira Enzo Scifo 22 June 2021 Waasland-Beveren Nicky Hayen Sacked Marc Schneider 18 May 2021 VirtonNo manager since end of 2019–20 season Christophe Grégoire 27 July 2021 Lommel Liam Manning Hired by Milton Keynes Dons 11 August 2021 Peter van der Veen 11 August 2021 Excel Mouscron Enzo Scifo Sacked 14 October 2021 8th Philippe Saint-Jean (caretaker) 14 October 2021 Philippe Saint-Jean Caretaker replaced 19 October 2021 8th José Jeunechamps 19 October 2021 Virton Christophe Grégoire Sacked 13 December 2021 8th Emmanuel Coquelet (caretaker) 13 December 2021 Lommel Peter van der Veen Resigned 14 December 2021 7th Luíz Felipe 14 December 2021 Virton Emmanuel Coquelet Caretaker replaced 22 December 2021 8th Pablo Correa 22 December 2021Lommel Luíz Felipe Mutual Consent 7 February 2022 7th Patrick Greveraars (caretaker) 7 February 2022 Patrick Greveraars Caretaker replaced 16 February 2022 7th Brian Eastick 16 February 2022 Waasland-Beveren Marc Schneider Sacked 28 February 2022 3rd Jordi Condom 28 February 2022
League table
Positions by round The table lists the positions of teams after the completion of each round. In the overview below, not all teams had played the same number of matches: The match between RWDM and Westerlo on matchday 15 was postponed and instead played between matchdays 17 and 18. The match between Westerlo and Deinze on matchday 17 was postponed and instead played between matchdays 19 and 20. The match between Lierse and Westerlo on matchday 21 was postponed and instead played between matchdays 24 and 25.
Season statistics Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Daniel MadernerWaasland-Beveren132 Lennart MertensDeinze123 Erdon DaciWesterlo104 Souleymane AnneVirton9 Dylan De BelderDeinze Kévin HoggasWaasland-Beveren7 Ján BernátWesterlo8 Bafodé DansokoDeinze Arthur SalesLommel10 Hakim AbdallahLierse Kempenzonen7 Kévin Nzuzi MataRWDM Lucas Ribeiro CostaWaasland-Beveren (includes 5 goals for Excel Mouscron)
Team of the season
Upon completion of the regular season a team of the season award was compiled, based upon the results of the team of the week results throughout the season, constructed based on nominations from managers, assistant-managers, journalists and analysts. The results were announced from 25 April 2022, with one player revealed each day.
PosPlayerClubRef GK RWDM RB Lommel CB Westerlo CB Lierse Kempenzonen LB Westerlo RW Deinze MF Westerlo MF RWDM LW RWDM FW Westerlo FW Waasland-Beveren
Number of teams by provinces Number of teams Province or region Team(s)2 Lierse Kempenzonen and Westerlo Deinze and Waasland-Beveren1 RWD MolenbeekExcel MouscronLommelVirton
Notes
References