The 2023–24 Belgian Pro League (officially known as the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons) was the 121st season of top-tier football in Belgium. Club Brugge were crowned champions for the 19th time in their history having come back from fourth at the start of the title play-offs. For the second time in three seasons, Union Saint-Gilloise finished top at the end of the regular season, but did not win the league.
Format change
After 3 seasons, the Belgian Pro League returned to the "old" format, featuring the number of teams reduced from 18 to 16, and with similar play-offs as it was pre-COVID-19. After the regular season, the top six teams qualified for the champions' play-offs (commonly called "Play-offs I"), teams from 7th to 12th place qualified for the Europe play-offs (commonly called "Play-offs II"), but most importantly the number of teams relegating increased from one to either two or three, as the bottom four teams (13th through 16th) played relegation play-offs after completion, of which the bottom two teams were relegated directly, with the team finishing 14th overall playing the 3rd-place finisher of the 2023–24 Challenger Pro League for the final spot in the 2024–25 Belgian Pro League.[1]
Teams
Due to the league format change which reduced the number of teams back from 18 to 16, the bottom three teams had been relegated to the Challenger Pro League: Oostende (after ten seasons), Seraing (after two seasons) and Zulte Waregem (after 18 seasons). They were replaced by RWD Molenbeek, the winner of the 2022–23 Challenger Pro League. Officially, this RWD Molenbeek played their first-ever season in the top flight, however the club saw itself as the successor of the former RWD Molenbeek, one-time Belgian champion, which last played at the highest level in 2002. Another distinct successor team with similar name RWDM Brussels also played four seasons at the highest level from 2004 to 2008.
The champions' play-offs decided the overall league champion. The top six teams of the Regular season qualified and played a round-robin tournament, with each team starting with half the points obtained during the regular season. The starting points were rounded up, in case of ties in standings at the end of the champions' play-offs, any half points gained were deducted first.
The points of Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Cercle Brugge and Genk were rounded up, and thus in the event of a tie on points, Union SG and Antwerp would always be ranked ahead of those four teams.
The teams finishing in the top four positions after conclusion of the champions' play-offs qualified for European football, with the team in position five facing the winner of the Europe play-offs for the final ticket.
Source: Jupiler Pro League(in Dutch), Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Regular season finishing position.[38] (C) Champions Notes:
^Union SG qualified for the Europa League play-off round by winning the 2023–24 Belgian Cup. The Europa League second qualifying spot and the European competition play-off spot were thus passed to the next two highest-placed teams that did not qualify for European competitions.
Europe play-offs
The Europe play-offs were played by the teams in positions 7 through 12 at the conclusion of the Regular season. Teams played a round-robin tournament, with each team starting with half the points obtained during the regular season. The starting points were rounded up, in case of ties in standings at the end of the Europe play-offs, any half points gained were deducted first.
The points of Gent, Mechelen and OH Leuven were rounded up, and thus in the event of a tie on points, Sint-Truiden, Standard Liège and Westerlo would always be ranked ahead of those three teams.
The winner of the Europe play-offs faced the team finishing fifth in the champions' play-offs to decide which team qualified for European football.
Source: Jupiler Pro League(in Dutch), Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Regular season finishing position.[40] (O) Play-off winners Notes:
^Supporters of Standard Liège prevented the start of the game by blocking Standard's team bus's departure. On 28 May 2024, the Royal Belgian Football Association ruled that Standard had done too little to prevent this situation.[39] As a result, the match was not replayed and Westerlo was awarded a 5–0 forfeit win.
European competition play-off
A single match was played between the fifth place finisher of the champions' play-offs and Gent, the winner of the Europe play-offs, with home advantage to the team from the champions' play-offs. The winner qualified for European football.
Normally the fourth team of the champions' play-offs would be facing the winner of the Europe play-offs, but as Union SG won the 2023–24 Belgian Cup on 9 May 2024 and was already guaranteed of finishing in the top four, instead the fifth-placed team of the champions' play-offs, Genk, faced Gent.
The bottom four teams after the regular season played the relegation play-offs, a round-robin tournament in which they started with the full points obtained during the regular season. The teams finishing in third and fourth at the conclusion of the relegation play-offs were relegated to the 2024–25 Challenger Pro League, and the team finishing in second place had to play the winner of the promotion play-offs, with the winner of that match playing in the 2024–25 Belgian Pro League.
Charleroi did not lose a single match during the play-offs and was already mathematically certain after four matchdays of not being relegated. Eupen was relegated after five matchdays, following a loss at Kortrijk. On the final matchday on 11 May 2024, to avoid direct relegation, RWD Molenbeek needed to win (at Eupen) and hope Kortrijk would not win (at Charleroi). Kortrijk did lose, but so did RWDM, sending Kortrijk to the promotion/relegation play-offs for an ultimate chance at avoiding relegation, while directly relegating RWD Molenbeek back to the Challenger Pro League.
Source: Jupiler Pro League(in Dutch), Soccerway Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Regular season finishing position.[41] (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Promotion/relegation play-offs
The promotion/relegation play-offs were contested by the teams finishing in positions 3 to 6 in the 2023–24 Challenger Pro League, who met in a knockout tournament with both quarter-finals and semi-finals over two legs, and the highest season finisher always having home advantage in the return leg. The winner of the semi-finals played the 14th place finisher of the 2023–24 Belgian Pro League over two legs. The Belgian Pro League team had home advantage in the return leg; the winner of the final would play in the 2024–25 Belgian Pro League, with the loser playing in the 2024–25 Challenger Pro League.
^Felice Mazzù managed the team during the regular season but was sacked before the start of the play-offs.
^Ronny Deila managed the team during the regular season but was sacked before the start of the play-offs.
^Florian Kohfeldt managed the team during the regular season but left before the start of the play-offs.
^Wouter Vrancken managed the team during the regular season and the first 7 matchdays of the champions' play-offs.
^Edward Still was the manager for matchdays 1 through 8, Joseph Akpala was caretaker manager on matchday 9 and again from matchday 17 to 20, and Glen De Boeck managed the team from matchday 10 to 16.
^Marc Brys was the manager for matchdays 1 through 10, Eddy Vanhemel acted as caretaker manager on matchdays 11 through 13.
^Caçapa was the manager for matchdays 1 through 25, Bruno Irles managed the team for matchdays 26 through 30 but was replaced before the start of the play-offs.
^Carl Hoefkens was the manager for matchdays 1 through 20.
^Jonas De Roeck was the manager for matchdays 1 through 16, Bart Goor took up the caretaker position of matchday 17, and Rik De Mil managed the team for matchdays 18 through 30.
^While the announcement of Ronny Deila's signature at Club Brugge was already made on 25 May 2023, Rik De Mil remained in charge for the last few matches of the season and Deila thus only officially took up the position as soon as the 2022–23 season ended.
^While the announcement of Glen De Boeck's signature at Kortrijk was already made on 28 September 2023, it was added that he would only take over on 2 October 2023, meaning caretaker Joseph Akpala remained in charge for the match of 29 September 2023.
^At the time of the announcement of Glen De Boeck's signature at Kortrijk the team was in last place. When he actually took over a few days later the team had moved into 15th.
^While the announcement of Óscar García's signature at OH Leuven was already made on 3 November 2023, caretaker Vanhemel remained in charge for the match of 4 November and García took over only after that match.
^While the announcement of Besnik Hasi's signature at KV Mechelen was already made on 8 November 2023, caretaker Vanderbiest remained in charge for the match of 11 November and Hasi took over only after that match.
^At the time of the announcement of Besnik Hasi's signature at Mechelen the team was in 14th place. When he actually took over a few days later the team had moved into 11th.
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