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Football is the national sport of Belgium. It has been played since the last decades of the nineteenth century. The national association was founded in 1895. The first match of the national team was played on May 1, 1904 (3-3 against France).

The football of the national team is known to be very physical, though in recent years, due a.o. to immigration, a number of technical players have played with the national team (Emile Mpenza, Luis Oliveira, Vincent Kompany). The same remark applies to the championship but for the reason that there is no limitation in the number of foreign players for a team in Belgium. So, after the Bosman ruling, Belgian clubs began to buy lots of unknown players from Eastern Europe countries as well as South American and African countries. This led to two different consequences: on the one hand, the national team was weakened and on the other hand, the Belgian league reinforced its status of window championship for the greatest European countries. Indeed, some of the most talented players in Europe have played in Belgian clubs: Jean-Pierre Papin was discovered at Club Brugge, Sunday Oliseh at RFC Liégeois, Jan Koller and Aruna Dindane at R.S.C. Anderlecht, Mido at K.A.A. Gent, etc.

Many talented defensive footballers played for Belgium: Jean-Marie Pfaff, Eric Gerets, Leo Clijsters, Michel Preud'homme, Georges Grün, Philippe Albert, Franky Van Der Elst, Vincent Kompany, etc. In comparison, only few attacking Belgian footballers have received international recognition: Enzo Scifo, Jan Ceulemans, Marc Degryse, Luc Nilis, Emile Mpenza, etc.

Contents 1 Clubs 1.1 Matricule 1.2 Naming 1.3 European results 2 Football in Belgium by province 2.1 West Flanders 2.2 East Flanders 2.3 Antwerp 2.4 Limburg 2.5 Brabant 2.6 Hainaut 2.7 Namur 2.8 Liège 2.9 Luxembourg 3 References

Several teams were created in the years 1870s and 1880s. The first club to register to the national association was R. Antwerp F.C. and it was subsequently assigned the matricule n°1. Each registered team was given a matricule in November 1926 by order of registration. The higher matricule is currently the n°9472 for F.C.M. Uccle. Though, many matricule numbers do not exist anymore since a lot of teams have merged. When two (or more) teams merge, they must choose which matricule they keep (usually, they choose the one with the most honours). The new club begins the championship at the level where the old club with the same matricule should have begun the season.

The first few matricule numbers are:

1. R. Antwerp F.C..
2. Daring Club de Bruxelles (no longer active)
3. Club Brugge
4. R.F.C. Liégeois
5. R. Léopold Uccle Forestoise
6. Racing Club de Bruxelles
7. K.A.A. Gent
8. R.C.S. Verviétois
9. R. Dolhain F.C.
10. R. Union Saint-Gilloise

For a more complete list, see List of football clubs in Belgium.

A team existing for at least 50 years may require to add the prefix Royal to its name (either in English or in the team language). Before 1958, this right was given to any team that celebrated its 25 years of existence, and between 1958 and 1968, it was granted to any team with at least 35 years of existence.

The naming of the Belgian clubs usually comprises the name of the town where the club plays as well as a prefix and/or suffix. Here is a partial list of such prefixes and suffixes in the two main languages of the country. For historical reasons, many Flemish clubs changed their names from French to Dutch between the beginning of the twentieth century and the late 1960s.

Many clubs encountered a lot of name changes throughout their existence with multiple reasons (a language change, a merge, an anniversary, etc.). Because of the numerous fusions between Belgian clubs, team names sometimes comprise several town names (like K. Beringen-Heusden-Zolder or Sporting West Ingelmunster-Harelbeke).

Name	French	Dutch
Royal	Royale (R.)	Koninklijke (K.)
Athletic Association	Association Athlétique (A.A.)	Atletieke Associatie (A.A.)
Sport Association	Association Sportive (A.S.)	Sportvereniging (S.V.)
Sport Ring	Cercle Sportif (C.S.)	Sportkring (S.K.)
Excelsior	Excelsior (E.)	Excelsior (E.)
Football Club	Football Club (F.C.)	Voetbalklub (V.K.) or Voetbalclub (V.C.)
Sport Club	Sporting Club (S.C.)	Sporting Club or Sport Club (S.C.)
Racing Club	Racing Club (R.C.)	Racing Club (R.C.)
Football Association	Association Football (A.F.)	Voetbal Vereniging (V.V.)
Royal Society	Société Royale (S.R.)	Koninklijke Maatschappij (K.M.)
Athletic Club	Athletic Club (A.C.)	Atletiek Club (A.C.)

R.S.C. Anderlecht and Y.R. K.V. Mechelen are the two Belgian clubs that have already won a European competition. Here is a list of the winners and runners-up by competition:

• Champions' League:
  • Final:
    • Club Brugge (1978)
• Cup Winners' Cup:
  • Wins:
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1976 and 1978)
    • K.V. Mechelen (1988)
  • Finals:
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1977 and 1990)
    • Standard Liège (1982)
    • R. Antwerp F.C. (1993)
• UEFA Cup:
  • Wins:
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1983)
  • Finals:
    • Club Brugge (1976)
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1984)
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup:
  • Final:
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1970)
• European Supercup:
  • Wins:
    • R.S.C. Anderlecht (1976 and 1978)
    • K.V. Mechelen (1988)

Under the first four levels in the league system, the competition is organized by province, with the notable exception of the Brabant that comprises clubs from the provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and the Brussels Capital Region.

Four clubs from West Flanders play in the first division (Club and Cercle Brugge, Roeselare and Zulte-Waregem) and two clubs play in the second division (Kortrijk and Oostende).

Three clubs from East Flanders play in the first division (Gent, Beveren and Lokeren) and four clubs play in the second division (Ronse, Waasland, Deinze and Hamme).

The province of Antwerp has an old tradition of football. The first Belgian clubs were created in the city of Antwerp (Antwerp Lyon's Club, A.S. Anvers-Borgerhout, Antwerp F.C.). Three clubs from this province play at the highest level (Germinal Beerschot, Lierse and Westerlo) and four play in the second one (Antwerp, Mechelen, Dessel and Geel).

Two clubs from Limburg play in the Jupiler League (Genk and Sint-Truidense) and two play in the second division (Overpelt-Lommel and Beringen-Heusden-Zolder).

Two clubs from Brabant play in the first division (Anderlecht and Brussels) while three clubs play in the second division (Oud-Heverlee Leuven, Union and Tubize).

The first Belgian championship ever was played between 7 teams, 4 of which were based in Brussels: Racing Club, Léopold Club, Sporting Club and Union d'Ixelles. Léopold Club was a club for the nobility and bourgeoisie in Brussels and is still alive following a string of 4 merges between 1982 and 2001 (but it plays in the Promotion B). The latter two clubs collapsed respectively in 1897 and 1901. That year a new club from Brussels arrived in the first division (namely R. Union Saint-Gilloise) and will become a leading team in Belgian football in the following seasons. It enjoyed first a rivalry with Racing Club and then with Daring Club (that won its first championship) in 1912. Later, they played alongside Anderlecht in the first division.

After World War I, the Belgian football was dominated by teams from the Antwerp province and from Brugge. In the early 1930s, Union and Daring shared 5 titles. The rivalry between the two clubs has inspired a play named Bossemans et Coppenolle (Bossemans was the name of the then coach of Union and Coppenolle the one of the Daring coach). During World War II, Anderlecht replaced Union and Daring as the leading team in Brussels. Its rivals in Brussels were successively Union, Daring, Racing White and its successors RWDM and FC Brussels.

Hainaut is the more active Walloon province at the highest national level. Indeed, three clubs currently play the first division (Mouscron, Charleroi and Louviéroise) and one play the second division (Mons).

The province of Namur is, with that of Luxembourg, the province with the worst football tradition. No club from this province is playing in one of the first two levels in Belgian football. No club from the province of Namur has ever played in the first division.

The first Begian championship ever was won by FC Liégeois. One club from the province of Liège plays in the first division (Standard Liège) and one in the second division (K.A.S. Eupen).

Football in the province of Liège was first lead by FC Liégeois (5 titles from 1895 to 1953) and then by Standard Liège (8 titles from 1958 to 1983). CS Verviers played some seasons in the first division, as well as FC Sérésien (that later merged with Standard) and FC Tilleur (that later merged with FC Liégeois).

Only one club from the province of Luxembourg play in the second division: Virton. Philippe Albert was born in this province (in the municipality of Bouillon). No club from this province has ever played in the first division.

• (English) RSSSF archive - Belgian clubs history
• (Dutch) Belgian Soccer Database - Extensive database about players, clubs, results and other historical statistics

Football in Belgium, 2006-07
League competitions	URBSFA/KBVB	Cup competitions and awards
Jupiler League	Belgium	Cup
Second division	Women	Supercup
Third division	List of clubs	Golden Shoe
Promotion		Professional football awards