Belgian Pro League

The Belgian Pro League,^[1] officially the Jupiler Pro League,^[a] due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler, is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023–24 season onwards, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Challenger Pro League.

Seasons run from early August to late March, with teams playing 30 matches each in the regular season, and then entering Play-offs I (also known as the Championship Playoff, title playoffs or Champions' play-offs^[2]) or Play-offs II (also known as the Europa League playoff or Europe play-offs^[2]) according to their position in the regular season. Play-offs I are contested by the top-six clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice. The teams finishing in 15th and 16th place are relegated directly, however, the 14th place team plays a promotion-relegation play-off against the 3rd place team of the Challenger Pro League.

The competition was created in 1895 by the Royal Belgian Football Association and was first won by FC Liégeois. Of the 74 clubs to have competed in the first division since its creation, 16 have been crowned champions of Belgium. Anderlecht is the most successful league club with 34 titles, followed by Club Brugge (19), Union Saint-Gilloise (11) and Standard Liège (10). It is currently ranked 8th in the UEFA rankings of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five-years.^[3] The competition was ranked 3rd when the UEFA first published their ranking in 1979 and also the next year in 1980, which is the best ranking the Belgian First Division has ever achieved.

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