| Competition: | Belgian First Division A |
| Season: | 2018–19 |
| Dates: | 27 July 2018 – 19 May 2019 |
| Winners: | Genk |
| Relegated: | Lokeren |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Genk Club Brugge |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Standard Liège Royal Antwerp Gent |
| League Topscorer: | Hamdi Harbaoui (25 goals) |
| Prevseason: | 2017–18 |
| Nextseason: | 2019–20 |
| Updated: | 12 May 2019 |
The 2018–19 Belgian First Division A (officially known as Jupiler Pro League) was the 116th season of top-tier football in Belgium.
| Matricule | Club | Location | Venue | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 21,500 | ||
| 1 | Antwerp | Bosuilstadion | 12,975 | ||
| 12 | Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,042 | ||
| 22 | Charleroi | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | 14,000 | ||
| 3 | Bruges | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,042 | ||
| 4276 | Eupen | Kehrweg Stadion | 8,363 | ||
| 322 | Genk | Luminus Arena | 24,956 | ||
| 7 | Ghent | Ghelamco Arena | 20,000 | ||
| 19 | Kortrijk | Guldensporen Stadion | 9,399 | ||
| 282 | Lokeren | Daknamstadion | 12,000 | ||
| 216 | Mouscron | Stade Le Canonnier | 10,571 | ||
| 31 | Ostend | Versluys Arena | 8,432 | ||
| 373 | Sint-Truiden | Stayen | 14,600 | ||
| 16 | Liège | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | 30,023 | ||
| 4068 | Beveren | Freethiel Stadion | 8,190 | ||
| 5381 | Waregem | Regenboogstadion | 12,500 |
| Club | Manager | Captain | Kit Manufacturer | Sponsors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anderlecht |  Karim Belhocine | Adrien Trebel | Adidas | BNP Paribas Fortis | |
| Antwerp |  László Bölöni |  Faris Haroun | Jako | Heylen Vastgoed | |
| Cercle Brugge | José Jeunechamps | Benjamin Lambot | Erima | ADMB | |
| Charleroi | Kappa | Proximus | |||
| Club Brugge | Ivan Leko | Ruud Vormer | Macron | Daikin | |
| Eupen | Claude Makélélé |  Luis García | Nike | Aspire Academy | |
| Excel Mouscron | Bernd Storck | Jérémy Huyghebaert | Erima | Star Casino | |
| Genk | Philippe Clement | Alejandro Pozuelo | Nike | Beobank | |
| Gent | Jess Thorup |  Nana Asare | Craft | vdk bank | |
| Kortrijk | Jako | AGO Jobs & HR | |||
| Lokeren | Glen De Boeck | Beltona | QTeam | ||
| Oostende | Franky Van der Elst | Nicolas Lombaerts | Joma | Willems Veranda's | |
| Sint-Truiden | Marc Brys | Olympic | Golden Palace | ||
| Standard Liège | Michel Preud'homme | New Balance | BASE | ||
| Waasland-Beveren |  Adnan Čustović | Milan Massop | Kappa | Circus.be | |
| Zulte-Waregem | Francky Dury | Patrick | Willy Naessens Group |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position | Replaced by | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sint-Truiden | Jonas De Roeck | Replaced | End of 2017–18 season | Pre-season | Marc Brys | 21 May 2018 [1] | |
| Oostende | Adnan Čustović | End of 2017–18 season | Gert Verheyen | 25 April 2018 [2] | |||
| Cercle Brugge | Franky Vercauteren | Mutual consent | End of 2017–18 season | Laurent Guyot | 6 June 2018 [3] | ||
| Standard Liège | Ricardo Sá Pinto | Resigned | End of 2017–18 season | Michel Preud'homme | 23 May 2018 [4] | ||
| Waasland-Beveren | Dirk Geeraerd | Caretaker replaced | End of 2017–18 season | Yannick Ferrera | 8 June 2018 [5] | ||
| Excel Mouscron | Frank Defays | Sacked | 30 August 2018 [6] | 16th | Bernd Storck | 2 September 2018 [7] | |
| Gent | Yves Vanderhaeghe | 8 October 2018 [8] | 7th | Jess Thorup | 10 October 2018 [9] | ||
| Lokeren | Peter Maes | 27 October 2018 [10] | 15th |  Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) | 27 October 2018 | ||
| Lokeren | Arnar Viðarsson (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | 2 November 2018 [11] | 16th |  Trond Sollied | 2 November 2018 | |
| Waasland-Beveren | Yannick Ferrera | Sacked | 11 November 2018 [12] | 14th | 17 November 2018 [13] | ||
| Kortrijk | Glen De Boeck | 15 November 2018 [14] | 12th | 15 November 2018 [15] | |||
| Anderlecht | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | 16 December 2018 [16] | 4th | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | 16 December 2018 | ||
| Anderlecht | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | Caretaker replaced | 6 January 2019 [17] | 5th | Fred Rutten | 6 January 2019 | |
| Lokeren | Trond Sollied | Sacked | 20 January 2019 [18] | 16th | Glen De Boeck | 20 January 2019 | |
| Oostende | Gert Verheyen | Resigned | 6 March 2019 [19] | 14th | Hugo Broos (caretaker) | 6 March 2019 | |
| Anderlecht | Fred Rutten | Mutual consent | 16 April 2019 [20] | Regular season: 4th Championship POs: 5th | Karim Belhocine (caretaker) | 16 April 2019 [21] | |
| Oostende | Hugo Broos (caretaker) | Resigned | 29 April 2019 [22] | Regular season: 14th Europa League POs: 4th | Franky Van der Elst (caretaker) | 29 April 2019 | |
| Cercle Brugge | Laurent Guyot | Mutual consent | 2 May 2019 [23] | Regular season: 13th Europa League POs: 4th | José Jeunechamps (caretaker) | 2 May 2019 |
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: Genk 32 points, Club Brugge 28, Standard Liège 27, Anderlecht 26, Gent 25 and Antwerp 25. The points of Genk, Standard Liège, Anderlecht and Antwerp were rounded up, therefore in case of any ties on points at the end of the playoffs, the half point will be deducted for these teams.
Group A of the play-offs consist of the teams finishing in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14 during the regular season and the first and third placed team in the qualifying positions in the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B. The teams finishing in positions 8, 10, 11, 13 and 15 were joined by the second placed qualifier from the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B in group B.
The winners of both play-off groups competed in one match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs for a spot in the final. This match was played on the field of the highest ranked team in the regular competition. Charleroi advanced to the final to play for a spot in the second qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
The winner of the Europa League play-off semi-final and the fourth-placed team of the championship play-offs played one match to determine the Europa League play-off winner. Antwerp qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League.
| Number of teams | Province or region | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Cercle Brugge, Club Brugge, Kortrijk, Oostende and Zulte Waregem | |
| 3 | Gent, Lokeren and Waasland-Beveren | |
| 2 | ||
| Eupen and Standard Liège | ||
| Genk and Sint-Truiden | ||
| 1 | Antwerp | |
| Anderlecht |
