2014–15 Belgian Pro League Explained

Competition:Jupiler Pro League
Season:2014–15
Winners:K.A.A. Gent
1st league title
Relegated:Lierse
Cercle Brugge
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Gent
Club Brugge
Continentalcup2:Europa League
Continentalcup2 Qualifiers:Anderlecht
Standard Liège
Charleroi
League Topscorer:Aleksandar Mitrović (20 goals)
Matches:296
Total Goals:848
Biggest Home Win:Charleroi 6–0 Lierse (regular season)
K.R.C. Genk 7–1 Waasland-Beveren (UEL play-offs)
Biggest Away Win:Lierse 0–6 Club Brugge
Highest Scoring:Standard Liège 3–5 Oostende
Longest Wins:5 games[1]
Kortrijk
Longest Unbeaten:19 games[2]
Club Brugge
Longest Winless:13 games[3]
LierseS.K.
Longest Losses:10 games[4]
Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz
Prevseason:2013–14
Nextseason:2015–16

The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Pro League (known as the Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the 112th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2014 and finished in May 2015. K.A.A. Gent won the league, making it the first championship title in their 115-year history.[5]

Teams

Following the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, R.A.E.C. Mons were relegated to the 2014–15 Belgian Second Division after losing their relegation playoff series against OH Leuven. Mons is replaced by 2013–14 Belgian Second Division champions K.V.C. Westerlo, who returned to the highest level after their relegation during the 2011–12 season.

Mouscron-Péruwelz replaces OH Leuven as they won the 2014 Belgian Second Division final round head of K.A.S. Eupen, Sint-TruidenV.V. and OH Leuven.

Stadia and locations

ClubLocationVenueCapacity
AnderlechtConstant Vanden Stock Stadium21,000
BruggeJan Breydel Stadium29,945
CharleroiStade du Pays de Charleroi25,000
BruggeJan Breydel Stadium29,945
GenkCristal Arena24,900
GhentGhelamco Arena20,000
KortrijkGuldensporen Stadion9,500
LierHerman Vanderpoortenstadion14,538
LokerenDaknamstadion10,000
MechelenArgosstadion Achter de Kazerne13,123
MouscronStade Le Canonnier10,800
OstendAlbertpark8,125
LiègeStade Maurice Dufrasne30,000
BeverenFreethiel Stadion13,290
WesterloHet Kuipje7,982
WaregemRegenboogstadion8,500

Personnel and kits

ClubChairmanManagerManufacturerSponsors
Roger Vanden Stock Besnik HasiadidasBNP Paribas Fortis
Paul Vanhaecke Dennis van WijkMasitaADMB
Fabien Debecq Felice MazzuMapsbelgacom
Bart Verhaeghe Michel Preud'hommeNikeproximus
Herbert Houben Alex McLeishNikebeobank
Michel Louwagie Hein VanhaezebrouckMasita/JartaziVDK
Joseph Allijns Yves VanderhaegheJakoAGO Jobs
Maged Samy Olivier GuillouJakoWadi Degla
Roger Lambrecht Peter MaesJartaziQTeam
Johan Timmermans Aleksandar JankovićKappaTelenet
Edward Van Daele Fernando Da CruzNikeTradeCo
Marc Coucke Frederik VanderbiestJomaVersluys
Roland Duchâtelet José RigaJomaBASE
Jozef Van Remoortel Guido BrepoelsJakoRemo Frit
Herman Wijnants Harm van VeldhovenSallerSoudal
Willy Naessens Francky DuryPatrickRecord Bank

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPositionReplaced byDate of appointment
Gent Peter BaletteReplacedEnd of 2013–14 season[6] Pre-season Hein Vanhaezebrouck5 May 2014
Kortrijk Hein VanhaezebrouckSigned by GentEnd of 2013–14 season Yves Vanderhaeghe28 May 2014[7]
Mechelen Franky VercauterenResignedEnd of 2013–14 season[8] Aleksandar Janković8 May 2014[9]
Waasland-Beveren Bob PeetersResignedEnd of 2013–14 season[10] Ronny Van Geneugden28 May 2014[11]
Genk Emilio FerreraSacked29 July 2014[12] 11th Alex McLeish22 August 2014[13]
Lierse Stanley MenzoSacked31 August 2014[14] 16th Slaviša Stojanovič5 September 2014[15]
Cercle Brugge Lorenzo StaelensSacked6 October 2014[16] 14th Arnar Viðarsson6 October 2014
Standard Liège Guy LuzonSacked20 October 2014[17] 11th Ivan Vukomanović[18] 5 November 2014[19]
Mouscron-Péruwelz Rachid ChihabSacked29 December 2014[20] 12th Fernando da Cruz29 December 2014
Waasland-Beveren Ronny Van GeneugdenSacked30 December 2014[21] 14th Guido Brepoels5 January 2015[22]
Westerlo Dennis van WijkSacked3 January 2015[23] 13th Harm van Veldhoven6 January 2015[24]
Lierse Slaviša StojanovičResigned28 January 2015[25] 16th Herman Helleputte28 January 2015
Lierse Herman HelleputteResigned30 January 2015[26] 16th Olivier Guillou30 January 2015[27]
Standard Liège Ivan VukomanovićReplaced2 February 2015[28] 5th José Riga2 February 2015
Cercle Brugge Arnar ViðarssonSacked18 March 2015[29] Relegation Playoff, 1st Dennis van Wijk18 March 2015

Regular season

League table

Results

Championship playoff

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: Club Brugge 31 points, Gent 29, Anderlecht 29, Standard 27, Kortrijk 26 and Charleroi 25. Had any ties occurred at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted if it was added. However, as all six teams received the half point bonus, this did not make a difference this season.

Playoff table

Europa League playoff

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 were placed in Group B.

Group A

Group B

Europa League playoff final

The winners of both playoff groups, Mechelen and Lokeren, compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship playoff, called Testmatch. The winners of this Testmatch will be granted entry to the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

----Mechelen won 4–3 on aggregate.

Testmatches Europa League

The Europa League playoff final was played over two legs between the Europa league playoff final winners, Mechelen, and the fifth-placed finisher of the championship playoff, Charleroi. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

----

Charleroi wins 3–2 on aggregate

Relegation playoff

The teams that finished in the last two positions will face each other in the relegation playoff. Lierse was sure of ending up in the relegation playoff after losing away to Gent on 7 March 2015, while Cercle Brugge qualified one week later after losing 2–3 at home to Mechelen.

The winner of this playoff will play the second division playoff with three Belgian Second Division teams, with only the winner of that playoff playing at the highest level the next season. Lierse failed to win the Belgian Second Division playoff resulting in their relegation, in addition to Cercle Brugge.

The matches in the table below were played from left to right:

Season statistics

Source: Sport.be

Up to and including matches played on 24 May 2015.

Top scorers

PositionPlayerClubGoals
1 Aleksandar MitrovićAnderlecht20
2 Ivan SantiniKortrijk15
3 Renaud EmondWaasland-Beveren14
Geoffrey Mujangi BiaStandard Liège
5 Laurent DepoitreGent13
José IzquierdoClub Brugge
Dalibor VeselinovićMechelen
8 Teddy ChevalierKortrijk12
Abdoulay DiabyMouscron-Péruwelz
Mijat MarićLokeren

Hat-tricks

Key
4Player scored four goals
The home team
PlayerFor Against Result Date
Club Brugge* Westerlo 5–0 9 November 2014
Gent Lokeren* 3–3 1 February 2015
Ivan Santini4 Kortrijk* Westerlo 6–0 21 February 2015
Oostende Zulte Waregem* 1–4 15 March 2015
Mouscron-Péruwelz Westerlo* 0–3 4 April 2015

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Langste winning streak . Sport.be . 22 November 2014 . nl . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101022233/http://www.sport.be/nl/jupilerproleague/statistic.html?comp=2743&stat=225 . 1 November 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
  2. Web site: Langste non-losing streak . Sport.be . 22 November 2014 . nl . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101020712/http://www.sport.be/nl/jupilerproleague/statistic.html?comp=2743&stat=228 . 1 November 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
  3. Web site: Langste non-winning streak . Sport.be . 18 December 2014 . nl . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101020510/http://www.sport.be/nl/jupilerproleague/statistic.html?comp=2743&stat=227 . 1 November 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
  4. Web site: Langste losing streak . Sport.be . 18 December 2014 . nl . https://web.archive.org/web/20141101112759/http://www.sport.be/nl/jupilerproleague/statistic.html?comp=2743&stat=226 . 1 November 2014 . dead . dmy-all .
  5. Web site: Gent end 115-year wait for Belgian title . uefa.com . 23 May 2015.
  6. News: Vanhaezebrouck:"Back to the top with Gent. sporza.be . 2014-05-05. nl.
  7. News: Kortrijk stelt assistent Vanderhaeghe voor als nieuwe trainer . Kortrijk presents assistant Vanderhaeghe as new head coach . sporza.be . 2014-06-03. nl.
  8. News: KV Mechelen and Vercauteren say goodbye. sporza.be . 2014-05-05. nl.
  9. News: KV Mechelen teams up with Aleksandar Janković. sporza.be . 2014-05-08. nl.
  10. News: Peeters terminates contract with Waasland-Beveren. sporza.be . 2014-05-23. nl.
  11. News: Ronny Van Geneugden new trainer of Waasland-Beveren. sporza.be . 2014-05-28. nl.
  12. News: Racing Genk sacks coach Ferrera after one matchday. https://archive.today/20140805201119/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2046275. dead. August 5, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-07-29. nl.
  13. News: Scotsman Alex McLeish is the new Genk trainer. https://archive.today/20140822193203/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2067086. dead. August 22, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-08-22. nl.
  14. News: Lierse kicks Menzo to the curb. https://archive.today/20140831102318/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2074596. dead. August 31, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-08-31. nl.
  15. News: New Lierse-coach:"Belgium is attractive due to the Red Devils". https://archive.today/20140905152354/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2079247. dead. September 5, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-09-05. nl.
  16. News: Cercle Brugge ends coöperation with Staelens. https://archive.today/20141006165244/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2111465. dead. October 6, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-10-06. nl.
  17. News: Luzon no longer head coach of Standard. https://archive.today/20141020102255/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2124109. dead. October 20, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-10-20. nl.
  18. Vukomanović had initially been appointed as caretaker manager following the sacking of Guy Luzon on 20 October 2014, but was appointed head coach on 5 November 2014 until the end of the season, due to good results.
  19. News: Standard continues with coach Vukomanović. https://archive.today/20141105082940/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2139466. dead. November 5, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-11-05. nl.
  20. News: Da Cruz succeeds Chihab at Mouscron-Péruwelz. https://archive.today/20141230223508/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2195563. dead. December 30, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-12-29. nl.
  21. News: Waasland-Beveren says goodbye to Ronny Van Geneugden. https://archive.today/20141230223600/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2196571. dead. December 30, 2014. sporza.be. 2014-12-30. nl.
  22. News: Brepoels:"show that success with STVV was not a coincidence. https://archive.today/20150106194553/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2200001. dead. January 6, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-01-05. nl.
  23. News: Westerlo end cooperation with Van Wijk. https://archive.today/20150103192429/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2199037. dead. January 3, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-01-03. nl.
  24. News: Van Veldhoven is the new coach at Westerlo. https://archive.today/20150106194621/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2201171. dead. January 6, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-01-06. nl.
  25. News: Lierse-coach Stojanovič resigns. https://archive.today/20150128215946/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2222191. dead. January 28, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-01-28. nl.
  26. News: Helleputte resigns as Lierse-coach after only two days. https://archive.today/20150130173456/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2223663. dead. January 30, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-01-30. nl.
  27. News: Helleputte has resigned for health reasons. De Morgen . 2015-01-30. nl.
  28. News: Riga returns as head coach at Standard. https://archive.today/20150203054627/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2227417. dead. February 3, 2015. sporza.be. 2015-02-02. nl.
  29. News: Van Wijk takes over control at Cercle Brugge: "I'm confident". https://archive.today/20150318202521/http://sporza.be/permalink/1.2275180. dead. March 18, 2015. sporza.be. 2014-10-06. nl.