| Season: | 2009–10 |
| Winners: | Anderlecht (30th title) |
| League Topscorer: | Romelu Lukaku (15 goals) |
| Matches: | 268 |
| Total Goals: | 614 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Anderlecht 6-0 Zulte-Waregem (28 March 2010)[1] |
| Biggest Away Win: | Mouscron 0–5 Lokeren (12 December 2009)[2] Germinal Beerschot 0-5 Anderlecht (29 January 2010)[3] |
| Highest Scoring: | Lokeren 5–3 Cercle (31 March 2010)[4] AA Gent 6-2 Club Brugge (8 May 2010)[5] |
| Longest Wins: | Anderlecht (9 games) ended 27 December 2010[6] |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Anderlecht (13 games) ended 6 February 2010[7] |
| Longest Losses: | K. Sint-Truidense V.V. (7 games) ended 21 November 2009[8] |
| Nextseason: | 2010–11 |
The 2009–10 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th season of top-tier football in Belgium. The season began on 31 July 2009 with the first matches of the regular season, and ended in May 2010 with the last matches of the playoff round. Standard Liège were the defending champions.
The competition underwent a significant overhaul for this season by reducing the number of teams and, for the first time in the history of the league, introducing a playoff system to determine the Belgian champions.
On April 18, 2010, Anderlecht became champions as a result of a 1–2 victory in Bruges against one of their main rivals, Club Brugge.
The league size has been reduced from eighteen to sixteen teams. Further, the competition has been split into two stages, a conventional season and playoffs.
The participating clubs will first play a conventional round-robin schedule for a total of 30 matches. After the conclusion of those matches, the team ranked 16th will be directly relegated to the Belgian Second Division, while every other team will play in a playoff round according to its league table position.
The first six teams will play in the Championship playoff. Points earned during the regular season are halved with an odd number of points being rounded up. The round will be played on a round-robin schedule. The winner of this round has won the Belgian championship and will participate in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. The runners-up will also play in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, while the third-placed team will enter the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Finally, the fourth-placed team will have to compete in a single match (called Testmatch) against the winner of the Europa League playoff (see below) for one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
The teams finishing seventh through fourteenth will play in the Europa League playoff and start with zero points. The round will be played in two groups, with teams in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 comprising Group A, and the remaining teams comprising Group B. Each group will be played on a round-robin schedule. The winners of these groups will then compete in a two-legged series to earn the right to play against the fourth-placed team of the Championship playoff for one spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
The 15th-placed team will participate in the Relegation playoff, along with the teams ranked second through fifth in the Belgian Second Division. The winners of the playoff will earn a place in the 2010–11 Belgian First Division.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 28,063 | ||
| Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,415 | ||
| Charleroi | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | 24,891 | ||
| Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,415 | ||
| Genk | Cristal Arena | 24,900 | ||
| Ghent | Jules Ottenstadion | 12,919 | ||
| Antwerp | Olympisch Stadion | 12,771 | ||
| Kortrijk | Guldensporen Stadion | 9,500 | ||
| Lokeren | Daknamstadion | 10,000 | ||
| Mechelen | Veolia Stadium Achter de Kazerne | 13,123 | ||
| Mouscron | Stade Le Canonnier | 11,300 | ||
| Roeselare | Schiervelde Stadion | 9,036 | ||
| Sint-Truiden | Staaienveld | 11,250 | ||
| Liège | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | 30,000 | ||
| Westerlo | Het Kuipje | 8,200 | ||
| Waregem | Regenboogstadion | 8,500 |
| Club | Chairman | Current manager | Team captain | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Roger Vanden Stock | Ariel Jacobs | Olivier Deschacht | BNP Paribas Fortis | ||
| Frans Schotte | Glen De Boeck | Denis Viane | A D M B | ||
 Abbas Bayat | Position Vacant |  Adlène Guedioura | VOO | ||
| Pol Jonckheere | Adrie Koster | Stijn Stijnen | Dexia | ||
| Harry Lemmens | Franky Vercauteren |  João Carlos | Euphony | ||
| Ivan De Witte | Michel Preud'homme | Bernd Thijs | VDK | ||
| Jos Verhaegen | Jos Daerden | Kurt Van Dooren | Quick | ||
| Jozef Allijns | Georges Leekens | Brecht Verbrugghe | Digipass by VASCO | ||
| Roger Lambrecht | Emilio Ferrera | Olivier Doll | Edialux | ||
| Johan Timmermans | Peter Maes | Jonas Ivens | Telenet | ||
| Philippe Dufermont | Position Vacant | Walter Baseggio | Frinver Promotions | ||
| Luc Espeel | Dennis Van Wijk | Stefaan Tanghe | Deceuninck | ||
| Roland Duchâtelet | Guido Brepoels | Peter Delorge | Belisol | ||
| Reto Stiffler | Dominique D'Onofrio | Steven Defour | BASE | ||
| Herman Wijnants | Jan Ceulemans | Jef Delen | Willy Naessens | ||
| Willy Naessens | Francky Dury | Ludwin Van Nieuwenhuyze | Enfinity, Petrus |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genk | Pierre Denier Hans Visser (caretakers) | Caretakers replaced | 5 March 2009 [9] | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | 17 May 2009 | Pre-Season | |
| Club Brugge | Jacky Mathijssen | Mutual consent | 17 May 2009 [10] |  Adrie Koster | 17 May 2009 [11] | Pre-Season | |
| Kortrijk | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Signed at Genk on 30 March 2009. | 17 May 2009 | Georges Leekens | 28 May 2009 [12] | Pre-Season | |
| Charleroi | John Collins | End of contract | 17 May 2009 [13] | Stéphane Demol | 2 June 2009 [14] | Pre-Season | |
| Mouscron | Enzo Scifo | Resigned | 6 June 2009 [15] | Miroslav Đukić | 10 June 2009 [16] | Pre-Season |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germinal Beerschot | Aimé Anthuenis | Sacked | 31 August 2009 [17] | Jos Daerden | 3 September 2009 [18] | 14th | |
| Lokeren | Aleksandar Janković | Sacked | 25 October 2009 [19] | Jacky Mathijssen | 25 October 2009 | 14th | |
| Mouscron | Miroslav Đukić | Resigned | 30 October 2009 [20] | Hans Galjé | 2 November 2009 [21] | 15th | |
| Charleroi | Stéphane Demol | Resigned | 31 October 2009 [22] | Tommy Craig | 20 November 2009 [23] | 13th | |
| Genk | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Sacked | 29 November 2009 [24] | Franky Vercauteren | 6 December 2009 [25] | 12th | |
| Mouscron | Hans Galjé | Contract annulled by bankruptcy | 28 December 2009 [26] | 10th | |||
| Lokeren | Jacky Mathijssen | Mutual consent | 25 January 2010 [27] | Emilio Ferrera | 28 January 2010 [28] | 15th | |
| Standard Liège | László Bölöni | Resigned | 10 February 2010 [29] | Dominique D'Onofrio | 10 February 2010 [30] | 6th | |
| Charleroi | Tommy Craig | Sacked | 14 April 2010 [31] | Jacky Mathijssen | 4 June 2010 [32] | 13th (4th in Playoff) |
During the season, Mouscron got into financial trouble. This caused months of debate and several law procedures, with the fate of Mouscron changing from week to week. The board of Mouscron finally accepted the bankruptcy of Mouscron on 28 December 2009.[26] At that point, the last two matches of Mouscron had already been forfeited as many players refused to play due to wages from November and December not being paid;[33] [34] three forfeits in a row would have also caused immediate elimination and relegation to the Belgian Third Division.
As a result of the bankruptcy and relegation, Mouscron's record was expunged.[26]
Note: The classification was made after the weekend (or midweek) of each matchday, so postponed matches were only processed at the time they were played to represent the real evolution in standings. The postponed matches are:
On top of that, the results of Mouscron were annulled between matchdays 20 and 21, causing many shifts between those matchdays.[26] Also, for the rest of the season, there will be no point at which all teams have played the same number of matches, until at the end.
Note: All Mouscron results listed below were expunged after the club had to declare bankruptcy during the season.[26] They are listed here for information purposes. Matches which were to be competed after Mouscron's exemption have been shaded.
The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff. Thus, Anderlecht started with 35 points, Club Brugge with 29, Gent with 25, Kortrijk 23 and both Sint-Truiden and Zulte-Waregem started with 21.
The winners of both playoff groups will compete in a two-legged match. The winners on aggregate will compete in another match (called Testmatch) against a team from the championship playoff (see below). If both teams are tied after two matches, the away goals rule will be applied. Should both teams still be tied afterwards, thirty minutes of extra time will be played and, if necessary, a penalty shootout will be conducted.
----Genk won 5–2 on aggregate.
The fourth-placed team from the championship playoff and the winners of the Europa League playoff competed for one spot in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League.
Note: The spot in the second qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was taken by Cercle Brugge, who was the runners-up of the 2009–10 Belgian Cup to Champions League-qualified Gent.
----Genk won 5–3 on aggregate.
The list of goalscorers is split up: first there is the list of goalscorers during the regular competition, deciding the official title of league 'topscorer', which was won by Romelu Lukaku. After this, the goalscorers in the play-offs are listed below in a second list. Because not all teams get equal matches in the playoffs, the goals during the playoffs did not count to determine the top scorer and therefore there are two separate lists.
| Position | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romelu Lukaku | Anderlecht | 15 |
| 2 |  Dorge Kouemaha | Club Brugge | 13 |
 Ibrahim Sidibe | Sint-Truiden | 13 | |
| 4 | Teddy Chevalier | Zulte Waregem | 12 |
| Cyril Théréau | Charleroi | 12 | |
| 6 |  Dawid Janczyk | Lokeren (9) and Germinal Beerschot (2) | 11 |
| 7 | Milan Jovanović | Standard Liège | 10 |
| 8 | Christian Benteke | Kortrijk | 9 |
 Mbark Boussoufa | Anderlecht | 9 | |
| Elimane Coulibaly | Gent | 9 | |
 Dominic Foley | Cercle Brugge | 9 | |
| Faris Haroun | Germinal Beerschot | 9 | |
| 13 | 6 players | 8 | |
| 19 | 5 players | 7 | |
| 24 | 11 players | 6 | |
| 35 | 11 players | 5 | |
| 46 | 17 players | 4 | |
| 63 | 19 players | 3 | |
| 82 | 38 players | 2 | |
| 120 | 60 players | 1 | |
| Own goals | 12 | ||
| bgcolor=#F2F2F2 colspan=3 align=right | Total goals | 614 | |
| bgcolor=#F2F2F2 colspan=3 align=right | Total games | 228 | |
| bgcolor=#F2F2F2 colspan=3 align=right | Average per game | ||
Mahamadou Dissa (Roeselare) Julien Gorius (Mechelen)
Oleg Iachtchouk (Cercle Brugge)
Ibou (Kortrijk)
Jaycee (Mouscron) Aloys Nong (Mechelen) David de Storme (Mechelen) Tom De Sutter (Anderlecht) Aleksandr Jakovenko (Westerlo) Chris Makiese (Zulte Waregem) Marvin Ogunjimi (Genk)
Joseph Akpala (Club Brugge) Thomas Buffel (Cercle Brugge (2) and Genk (4))
Cephas Chimedza (Sint-Truiden) Dieter Dekelver (Westerlo)
Ivan Perišić (Club Brugge) Kevin Roelandts (Zulte Waregem) Wesley Sonck (Club Brugge)
Matías Suárez (Anderlecht)
Bjarni Viðarsson (Roeselare) Jelle Vossen (Genk (0) and Cercle Brugge (6))
Randall Azofeifa (Gent) Leon Benko (Kortrijk) Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez (Standard Liège)
Adnan Čustović (Gent) Tosin Dosunmu (Germinal Beerschot) Karel Geraerts (Club Brugge)
Habib Habibou (Charleroi)
Roland Juhász (Anderlecht) Mbaye Leye (Gent) Dániel Tőzsér (Genk) Axel Witsel (Standard Liège) Franck Berrier (Zulte Waregem) Mario Carević (Lokeren) Davy De Beule (Kortrijk) Igor De Camargo (Standard Liège) Joeri Dequevy (Roeselare) Samir El Gaaouiri (Roeselare) Jonathan Legear (Anderlecht) Sherjill MacDonald (Germinal Beerschot) Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (Club Brugge) Reynaldo (Anderlecht (0) and Cercle Brugge (4))
Nikita Rukavytsya (Roeselare) Sulejman Smajić (Lokeren) Bertin Tomou (Westerlo (3) and Roeselare (1)) Jonathan Wilmet (Sint-Truiden) Stef Wils (Gent)
Elyaniv Barda (Genk) Frederik Boi (Cercle Brugge)
Fabien Camus (Genk) Steven de Petter (Westerlo) Stijn De Smet (Gent) Karel D'Haene (Zulte Waregem) Peter Delorge (Sint-Truiden) Vincent Euvrard (Sint-Truiden) Bernt Evens (Westerlo) Nicolás Frutos (Anderlecht)
Torben Joneleit (Genk) Christophe Lepoint (Gent) Maxime Lestienne (Mouscron (3) and Club Brugge (0))
Zlatan Ljubijankič (Gent)
Ondřej Mazuch (Anderlecht) Adnan Mravac (Westerlo) Tomo Šokota (Lokeren)
Jonathan Aspas (Mouscron) Karim Belhocine (Kortrijk) Maxime Biset (Mechelen)
Bojan Božović (Cercle Brugge) João Carlos (Genk)
Daniel Chávez (Club Brugge) Grégory Christ (Charleroi) Laurent Ciman (Kortrijk) Philippe Clement (Germinal Beerschot)
Mohamed Dahmane (Club Brugge) Wilfried Dalmat (Standard Liège) Nabil Dirar (Club Brugge) Olivier Doll (Lokeren) Ederson (Genk (0) and Charleroi (2))
Steffen Ernemann (Zulte Waregem) Guillaume François (Mouscron (2) and Germinal Beerschot (0)) Guillaume Gillet (Anderlecht) Ibrahima Gueye (Lokeren) Moussa Koita (Genk) Robert Maah (Mouscron) Mohamed Messoudi (Kortrijk) Carlos Moreno (Mouscron) Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (Charleroi) Joachim Mununga (Mechelen) Stefan Nikolić (Roeselare) Vuza Nyoni (Cercle Brugge) Hervé Onana (Sint-Truiden) Abdelmajid Oulmers (Charleroi) Anthony Portier (Cercle Brugge) Mats Rits (Germinal Beerschot) Serhiy Serebrennikov (Cercle Brugge) Bernd Thijs (Gent) Jelle Van Damme (Anderlecht) Romeo Van Dessel (Mechelen) Ludwin Van Nieuwenhuyze (Zulte Waregem) David Vandenbroeck (Charleroi (0) and Kortrijk (2))
Antolin Alcaraz (Club Brugge) Alex (Sint-Truiden) Arnor Angeli (Standard Liège) Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht) Maxime Brillault (Charleroi) Yoni Buyens (Mechelen) Brecht Capon (Kortrijk) Issame Charaï (Sint-Truiden) Alessandro Cordaro (Charleroi) Hans Cornelis (Cercle Brugge)
Daniel Cruz (Germinal Beerschot) Koen Daerden (Club Brugge (0) and Standard Liège (1)) Kevin De Bruyne (Genk) Steven Defour (Standard Liège) Jef Delen (Westerlo) Boubacar Dialiba (Mechelen) Ryan Donk (Club Brugge) Chemcedine El Araichi (Mouscron) Hassan El Mouataz (Lokeren) Rachid Farssi (Westerlo) Felipe (Standard Liège) Jimmy Hempte (Kortrijk)
Abdul-Yakuni Iddi (Mechelen) Jonas Ivens (Mechelen) Kanu (Anderlecht) Dejan Kelhar (Cercle Brugge)
Mahamoudou Kéré (Charleroi) Cheikhou Kouyaté (Anderlecht) Sven Kums (Kortrijk) Ivan Leko (Germinal Beerschot (0) and Lokeren (1)) Ellenton Liliu (Westerlo) Eliaquim Mangala (Standard Liège) Stijn Meert (Zulte Waregem) Tomislav Mikulić (Standard Liège (0) and Germinal Beerschot (1)) Damir Mirvić (Roeselare) Jarno Molenberghs (Westerlo) Ernest Nfor (Zulte Waregem) Denis Odoi (Sint-Truiden) Orlando (Charleroi (0) and Genk (1))
Nebojša Pavlović (Kortrijk) Luigi Pieroni (Gent) Sébastien Pocognoli (Standard Liège) Giuseppe Rossini (Mechelen)
Berat Sadik (Zulte Waregem) Nils Schouterden (Sint-Truiden) Tony Sergeant (Cercle Brugge) Tim Smolders (Gent) Tom Soetaers (Kortrijk (0) and Mechelen (1)) Jérémy Taravel (Zulte Waregem) Glenn Van Asten (Westerlo) Günther Vanaudenaerde (Westerlo) Daan van Gijseghem (Mouscron (1) and Club Brugge (0)) Joris Van Hout (Westerlo) Marc Wagemakers (Sint-Truiden) Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht) Samuel Yeboah (Genk) Yoav Ziv (Lokeren) Frederik Boi (Cercle Brugge, goal scored for Anderlecht) Steve Colpaert (Zulte Waregem, goal scored for Mechelen) Dominic Foley (Cercle Brugge, goal scored for Genk) Eliaquim Mangala (Standard Liège, goal scored for Anderlecht) Eric Matoukou (Genk, goal scored for Mouscron) Anthony Portier (Cercle Brugge, goal scored for Kortrijk) Jurgen Sierens (Roeselare, goal scored for Anderlecht) Tiago Silva (Genk, goal scored for Zulte Waregem) Jelle Van Damme (Anderlecht, goal scored for Club Brugge) Bram Vandenbussche (Roeselare, goal scored for Kortrijk)30 games, 83 goals (per game)
Christian Benteke (Kortrijk) Mbark Boussoufa (Anderlecht) Matías Suárez (Anderlecht) Jelle Van Damme (Anderlecht) Davy De Beule (Kortrijk) Guillaume Gillet (Anderlecht) Dorge Kouemaha (Club Brugge) Christophe Lepoint (Gent) Ernest Nfor (Zulte Waregem) Randall Azofeifa (Gent) Elimane Coulibaly (Gent) Peter Delorge (Sint-Truiden) Nabil Dirar (Club Brugge) Yassine El Ghanassy (Gent) Christophe Grondin (Gent) Mbaye Leye (Gent) Kevin Roelandts (Zulte Waregem) Sébastien Siani (Sint-Truiden) Joseph Akpala (Club Brugge) Ziguy Badibanga (Anderlecht) Ludovic Buysens (Sint-Truiden) Bart Buysse (Zulte Waregem) Thomas Chatelle (Anderlecht) Tom De Sutter (Anderlecht) Peter Delorge (Sint-Truiden) Roland Juhász (Anderlecht) Maxime Lestienne (Club Brugge) Ondřej Mazuch (Anderlecht) Luigi Pieroni (Gent) Nils Schouterden (Sint-Truiden) Jeroen Simaeys (Club Brugge) Wesley Sonck (Club Brugge) Jérémy Taravel (Zulte Waregem) Bernd Thijs (Gent) David Vandenbroeck (Kortrijk) Miguel Dachelet (2) (Zulte Waregem, goals scored for Sint-Truiden and Club Brugge)24 games, 73 goals (per game)
Julien Gorius (Mechelen) Ellenton Liliu (Westerlo) Lens Annab (Westerlo) Igor De Camargo (Standard Liège) Daniel Cruz (Germinal Beerschot) Omer Golan (Lokeren) Faris Haroun (Germinal Beerschot) Aleksandr Jakovenko (Westerlo) Joachim Mununga (Mechelen) Marvin Ogunjimi (Genk) Killian Overmeire (Lokeren) Tom Soetaers (Mechelen) Samuel Yeboah (Genk) Maxime Biset (Mechelen) Frederik Boi (Cercle Brugge) Thomas Buffel (Genk) Fabien Camus (Genk) Grégory Christ (Charleroi) Alessandro Cordaro (Charleroi) Hans Cornelis (Cercle Brugge) Kevin De Bruyne (Genk) Steven de Petter (Westerlo) Ibrahima Gueye (Lokeren) Oleg Iachtchouk (Cercle Brugge) Dawid Janczyk (Germinal Beerschot)
Sanharib Malki (Lokeren) Eric Matoukou (Genk) Benjamin Mokulu (Lokeren) Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo (Standard Liège) Aloys Nong (Mechelen) Jérémy Perbet (Lokeren) Jaime Alfonso Ruiz (Westerlo) Tony Sergeant (Cercle Brugge) Jérémy Serwy (Charleroi) Cyril Théréau (Charleroi)
Moussa Traoré (Standard Liège) Katuku Tshimanga (Lokeren) Joris Van Hout (Westerlo) Nico Van Kerckhoven (Westerlo) Günther Vanaudenaerde (Westerlo) Justice Wamfor (Germinal Beerschot) Axel Witsel (Standard Liège)Source: sporza.be and Sport.be
Regular competition records beaten or equalized during playoff games are listed as such.
Widest winning margin: 5 Goals
Most goals in a match by one team: 5 Goals
Most goals in one half: 5 goals
Most goals in one half by a single team: 4 goals
Most goals in a match by one player: 3 goals
Source: sporza.be and Sport.be