The following article presents a summary of the 2008–09 football (soccer) season in Belgium, which is the 115th season of competitive football in the country.

Contents 1 League competitions 1.1 Belgian First Division 1.2 Belgian Second Division 2 Other honours 3 European Club Results 4 European qualification for 2008–09 summary 5 See also 6 References

[edit] League competitions

[edit] Belgian First Division

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Standard Liége  (C)	34	24	5	5	66	26	+40	077PO	Template:Fb round2 2009–10 UCL GS
2	Anderlecht	34	24	5	5	75	30	+45	077PO	Template:Fb round2 2009–10 UCL QR3
3	Club Brugge	34	18	5	11	59	50	+9	59	2009–10 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round
4	Gent	34	17	8	9	67	42	+25	59	Template:Fb round2 2009–10 UEL QR2
5	Zulte-Waregem	34	16	7	11	55	36	+19	55
6	Westerlo	34	15	7	12	42	38	+4	52
7	Lokeren	34	13	12	9	40	32	+8	51
8	Genk	34	15	5	14	48	51	−3	50	Template:Fb round2 2009–10 UEL PO 1
9	Cercle Brugge	34	14	5	15	48	53	−5	47
10	Mechelen	34	12	10	12	46	52	−6	46
11	Mouscron	34	12	8	14	42	49	−7	44
12	Charleroi	34	12	7	15	43	48	−5	43
13	Germinal Beerschot	34	11	9	14	44	42	+2	42
14	Kortrijk	34	9	11	14	37	55	−18	38
15	Dender  (R)	34	9	8	17	44	58	−14	35	Template:Fb competition 2008–09 Belgian Second Division Final Round
16	Roeselare  (O)	34	8	6	20	33	59	−26	30
17	Tubize  (R)	34	7	6	21	35	77	−42	27	Template:Fb competition 2009–10 Belgian Second Division
18	Mons  (R)	34	3	10	21	31	57	−26	19

Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; If still tied, a playoff is organised.
^POThe championship was decided in a playoff (see below).
¹Genk qualified for the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League by winning the Belgian Cup 2008–09.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] Belgian Second Division

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sint-Truiden  (C) (P)	36	24	8	4	72	29	+43	80	Template:Fb competition 2008–09 Belgian First Division
2	Lierse	36	22	9	5	75	40	+35	75	Template:Fb competition 2007–08 Belgian Second Division Final Round
3	Antwerp	36	17	10	9	55	32	+23	61
4	Waasland	36	16	7	13	56	48	+8	55
5	Tournai	36	14	12	10	53	41	+12	54
6	Tienen	36	14	11	11	58	49	+9	53
7	Oostende	36	13	14	9	54	51	+3	53
8	Ronse	36	15	7	14	54	52	+2	52
9	KVSK United	36	14	9	13	48	38	+10	51
10	Brussels	36	12	13	11	50	37	+13	49
11	RFC Liège	36	11	15	10	49	48	+1	48
12	OH Leuven	36	12	10	14	46	48	−2	46
13	Beveren	36	11	12	13	47	57	−10	45
14	Eupen	36	12	7	17	47	63	−16	43
15	Olympic Charleroi  (R)	36	10	9	17	48	65	−17	39	Belgian Third Division Final Round
16	Virton  (R)	36	9	12	15	46	58	−12	39
17	Hamme  (R)	36	9	9	18	48	64	−16	36
18	Deinze  (R)	36	7	15	14	46	65	−19	36	Template:Fb competition 2008–09 Belgian Third Division
19	UR Namur  (R)	36	2	7	27	22	89	−67	13

Source: Belgian Second Division
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd matches won; If still tied, a playoff is organised.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (Q) = Qualified to respective phase of tournament; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.

[edit] Other honours

Competition	Winner
Cup	Genk
Supercup	Standard Liège
Third division A	Wetteren
Third division B	Turnhout
Promotion A	Coxyde
Promotion B	Temse
Promotion C	Heist
Promotion D	Bleid

[edit] European Club Results

Note that the Belgian team's score is given first

As Cercle Brugge did not desire to play in the Intertoto Cup, Germinal Beerschot took their place but where immediately eliminated. Anderlecht suffered a painful defeat to FC BATE in the second qualification round of the Champions League, which did not even send them into the UEFA Cup. Gent also performed weak, losing immediately in their first match. Club Brugge got into the group stage but after drawing in every match against mostly weaker opponents, they finally succumbed at home to Copenhagen. Champions Standard Liège however provided stunning football as they came very close to keeping Liverpool out of the Champions League and then dropped into the UEFA Cup where they beat teams such as Everton, Sevilla, Partizan and Sampdoria before eventually going out against Braga in the last 16.

Date	Team	Competition	Round	Leg	Opponent	Location	Score
July 5 or 6	Germinal Beerschot	Intertoto Cup	Round 2	Leg 1, Home	Neftchi Baku	Het Kiel,Antwerp	1–1
July 12 or 13	Germinal Beerschot	Intertoto Cup	Round 2	Leg 2, Away	Neftchi Baku	Tofik Bakhramov Stadium,Baku	0–1
July 29 or 30	Anderlecht	Champions League	Qual. Round 2	Leg 1, Home	BATE	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht	1–2
August 5 or 6	Anderlecht	Champions League	Qual. Round 2	Leg 2, Away	BATE	Haradzki Stadium, Barysaw	2–2
August 12 or 13	Standard Liège	Champions League	Qual. Round 3	Leg 1, Home	Liverpool	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	0–0
August 14	Gent	UEFA Cup	Qual. Round 2	Leg 1, Home	Kalmar FF	Jules Ottenstadion,Ghent	2–1
August 21	Gent	UEFA Cup	Qual. Round 2	Leg 2, Away	Kalmar FF	Fredriksskans,Kalmar	0–4
August 26 or 27	Standard Liège	Champions League	Qual. Round 3	Leg 2, Away	Liverpool	Anfield, Liverpool	0–1 (aet)
September 18	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Round 1	Leg 1, Away	Young Boys	Stade de Suisse, Bern	2–2
September 18	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Round 1	Leg 1, Away	Everton	Goodison Park, Liverpool	2–2
October 2	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Round 1	Leg 2, Home	Young Boys	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	2–0
October 2	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Round 1	Leg 2, Home	Everton	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	2–1
October 23	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 1, Away	Rosenborg	Lerkendal stadion, Trondheim	0–0
November 6	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 1, Home	Sevilla	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	1–0
November 27	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 2, Home	Saint-Étienne	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	1–1
November 27	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 2, Away	Partizan	Partizan Stadium, Belgrade	1–0
December 3	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 3, Home	Sampdoria	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	3–0
December 4	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 3, Away	Valencia	Estadio Mestalla, Valencia	1–1
December 17	Club Brugge	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 4, Home	Copenhagen	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges	0–1
December 18	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Group Stage	Match 4, Away	Stuttgart	Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart	0–3
February 18	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Round of 32	Leg 1, Home	Braga	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga	0–3
February 26	Standard Liège	UEFA Cup	Round of 32	Leg 2, Away	Braga	Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège	1–1

[edit] European qualification for 2008–09 summary

Competition	Qualifiers	Reason for Qualification
UEFA Champions League	Standard Liège	1st in Jupiler League
UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round for Non-Champions	Anderlecht	2nd in Jupiler League
UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round	Club Brugge	3rd in Jupiler League
UEFA Europa League Second Qualifying Round	Gent	4th in Jupiler League
UEFA Europa League Fourth Qualifying Round	Genk	Cup winner

[edit] See also

• Jupiler League 2008-09
• Belgian Cup 2008-09
• 2009 Belgian Super Cup
• Belgian Second Division
• Belgian Third Division A
• Belgian Third Division B

[edit] References

v • d • e Football in Belgium Overview Football Association · League system · Clubs · Venues · Referees International National team · U-21 · Youth · Women League competitions First Division · Second division · Third division (A, B) · Promotion (A, B, C, D) Cup competitions Belgian Cup · Belgian Supercup Awards Golden Shoe · Professional football awards