2010–11 in Belgian football

The 2010–11 football season in Belgium, which is the 108th season of competitive football in the country and runs from August 2010 until July 2011.

Promotion and relegation
Team promoted to 2010–11 Belgian First Division
 * Belgian Second Division Champions: Lierse

Teams relegated from 2009–10 Belgian First Division
 * 15th Place: Roeselare (lost playoff)
 * 16th Place: Mouscron (Mouscron was declared bankrupt during the season and relegated to third division.)

Teams promoted to 2010-11 Belgian Second Division
 * Belgian Third Division A Champions: Heist
 * Belgian Third Division B Champions: Visé
 * Playoff winners: Rupel Boom

Teams relegated from 2009-10 Belgian Second Division
 * 19th Place: RFC Liège
 * Playoff losers: Ronse
 * Did not obtain a license: Beveren

Teams promoted to 2010-11 Belgian Third Division
 * Belgian Promotion A Champions: Izegem
 * Belgian Promotion B Champions: Bornem
 * Belgian Promotion C Champions: Geel
 * Belgian Promotion D Champions: Bertrix
 * Playoff winners: Olsa Brakel
 * Playoff winners: Heppignies
 * Playoff winners: Grimbergen
 * Playoff winners: Huy

Teams relegated from 2009-10 Belgian Third Division
 * 17th Place in Third Division A: Ieper
 * 18th Place in Third Division A: Racing Mechelen
 * 19th Place in Third Division A: Willebroek-Meerhof
 * 17th Place in Third Division B: Veldwezelt
 * 18th Place in Third Division B: Péruwelz
 * Playoff losers: Zottegem
 * Playoff losers: Tongeren

Third division play-off
From the third division A, Deinze qualified as winner of the periods 2 (matches 11 to 22) and 3 (matches 23 to 34), Hoogstraten and Coxyde qualified as 2nd and 4th placed teams in the final table. The first period (matches 1 to 10) was won by the champion Aalst. However, as only the champion Aalst, as well as Hoogstraten, Sint-Niklaas and Geel-Meerhout had got their remunerated football license, required to be able to enter the play-offs, Coxyde and Deinze did not enter the play-offs.

From the third division B, Virton qualified as the winner of period 1, Bertrix qualified as the 3rd-placed team in the final table and Zaventem as the 4th-placed team. The champion Woluwe had won periods 2 and 3. However, Bertrix did not apply for the remunerated football license and was replaced for the play-offs by Union, the 5th-placed team in the final table.

From the second division, Turnhout qualified for the second round of the play-off as the 16th-placed team.

Belgian Promotion
In the Promotion A, Athois were crowned champions, while Ieper, Péruwelz-Mouscron and Sparta Petegem respectively won the first period (matches 1 to 10), second period (matches 11 to 20) and third period (matches 21 to 30). In the Promotion B, RC Mechelen won the regular season as well as the second period. Lyra and Londerzeel won respectively the first and third periods. Wijgmaal also entered the Promotion play-off as 3rd-placed team in the final table. In the Promotion C, Maasmechelen won the title, as well as the first and third periods and Tielen won the second period. Veldwezelt and Oosterwijk also qualified for the play-off as respectively the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams in the regular season. In the Promotion D, La Calamine won the championship as well as periods 1 and 3 and Walhain won the period 2. Sprimont-Comblain and Faymonville joined Walhain as qualifier for the play-off from group D as respectively 3rd and 4th-placed teams. The two 16th-placed teams from the third division Cappellen and Ternat also qualified for the Promotion play-off, entering the competition in the second round.

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Notable transfers
With the shrinking of the Belgian First Division from 18 to 16 teams, only few players of relegated teams were able to stay in first division, with Sulejman Smajić arguably the most important one as he moved from Dender EH to Lokeren. After an impressive season, Bryan Ruiz decided it was time to move as the Costa Rican international signed a contract with Twente and thereby left Gent.

At Standard Liège, Oguchi Onyewu moved on a free transfer to AC Milan. To replace him, four Portuguese speaking players were signed, with Ricardo Rocha from Tottenham Hotspur being most known. Club Brugge made some impressive signings as they bought Belgian international Carl Hoefkens together with striker Ivan Perišić who had just helped Roeselare to avoid relegation. Under influence of Dutch coach Adrie Koster, central defender Ryan Donk was also signed.

Most noted signing for Anderlecht was Ondřej Mazuch from Fiorentina. Mouscron was noticed for signing several unknown players from France, Italy and especially Spain, mostly coming from teams in third and fourth division. A few minutes before the deadline, Cercle Brugge and Genk finished negotiations as they formed a deal which meant Thomas Buffel moved from Cercle Brugge to Genk with Hans Cornelis making the opposite move. On top of that Jelle Vossen was loaned out by Genk for a season to Cercle Brugge.

During the first half of the season, Standard signed former French international Olivier Dacourt to replace the injured Steven Defour.

In the winter period, the bankruptcy of Mouscron caused all their players to be contacted by several teams as they were all free to sign new contracts. Club Brugge managed to sign youngsters Maxime Lestienne and Daan van Gijseghem although there was a lot of interest by many clubs, especially for Lestienne. Standard bought Belgian internationals Sébastien Pocognoli and Koen Daerden, while Anderlecht signed a player from fifth division named Paul Taylor and then loaned him to Charleroi. Also returning Belgian internationals were Luigi Pieroni, the 2003-04 Belgian League top scorer, who signed for Gent and Peter Van Der Heyden who signed for Club Brugge. -->

European Club results
Note that the Belgian team's score is always given first.


 * Anderlecht and Gent started the season in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, respectively in the champions and non-champions path. Both were eliminated and dropped into the Europa League. Anderlecht suffered a major mental blow after losing out on penalties to Partizan Belgrade, whereas Gent was no match for Dynamo Kyiv. In the Europa League, Gent performed above expectations as they first knocked out Feyenoord and then came close to progress through the group stage, only losing to French league leaders Lille on the final day, earlier defeating Levski Sofia from Bulgaria and Portuguese club Sporting CP at home. After some mediocre results in the group stage, Anderlecht only scraped through on the last day as they beat Hajduk Split and Zenit St. Petersburg also won their match against AEK Athens. In the knockout round, Anderlecht was blown away 0-3 and 0-2 by Ajax, although their victory of the season before had given them high hopes before the match.
 * Cercle Brugge, Genk and Club Brugge started respectively in the second qualifying round, third qualifying round and playoff round of the Europa League. Cercle Brugge beat Finnish team TPS Turku before narrowly losing out to Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus. Genk also beat a team from Turku, namely Inter Turku, after losing out to Porto. Club Brugge did reach the group stage by beating Dinamo Minsk, but then scored only three points in six matches after a very disappointing string of results against Villarreal, PAOK and Dinamo Zagreb.

European qualification for 2011-12 summary
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Belgium
As interim coach Franky Vercauteren chose to resign after the loss in Armenia, prompting already signed Dick Advocaat to start already, although his contract started only on 1 January 2010. Advocaat however simply resigned in April 2010 to sign a new contract at Russia where he could earn a lot more. The Royal Belgian Football Association reacted disappointed and angry at the same time, whereas Advocaat claimed he "did not feel guilty at all". As of now, no new coach has been appointed.

World Cup qualifiers
Belgium was in qualifying Group 5 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup but did not manage to qualify.

U-21 Championship qualifiers
The Belgium under-21 squad is currently in Group 8 of the qualification process for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

This leaves two matches, away to Slovenia and away to France to be played in the next season.

U-19 Championship qualifiers
The Belgium under-19 squad is currently in Group 1 of the elite round qualification process for the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship after successfully passing through the first stage of qualifying.

World Cup qualifiers
Belgium is in qualifying Group 8 for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

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