# 2005–06 in Belgian football

The 2005–06 season was the 103rd competitive season in Belgian football.

## Overview

For the first season since 2000, the football fancard is not needed to see a first division game. Tickets for matches can now be purchased with a single ID card and on the day of the match, which was not permitted since the introduction of the fancard. Furthermore, for the second season in history (the first time was in the 1960s), one game of each matchday is shown on public television. Another premiere is that every Jupiler League game can be watched on a private television channel.

## Honours

| Competition | Winner |
| First division | Anderlecht |
| Cup | Zulte-Waregem |
| Supercup | Anderlecht |
| Second division | Mons |
| Third division A | Dender |
| Third division B | Tienen |

## Events

* July 30, 2005 - Club Brugge claim the first silverware of the season when they beat Germinal Beerschot 1-1 (4-2 on penalties) to win the Supercup.
* September 22, 2005 - Germinal Beerschot coach Marc Brys is sacked after having collected 4 points in 7 matches. He is replaced by Jos Daerden.
* September 29, 2005 - The two Belgian clubs playing the UEFA Cup (Genk and Germinal Beerschot) are defeated in the first round.
* October 3, 2005 - AA Louviéroise coach Emilio Ferrera is sacked due to the poor debut of his team (4 points in 9 matches).
* October 20, 2005 - Gilbert Bodart is confirmed as the new AA Louviéroise coach.
* November 2, 2005 - Paul Put is sacked as manager of Lierse SK because of a lack of results (8 points in 11 matches).
* November 7, 2005 - René Trost replaces Paul Put at the helm of Lierse SK.
* November 22, 2005 - Gil Vandenbrouck replaces Geert Brouckaert as caretaker of Mouscron.
* December 12, 2005 - the Serbian coach Slavoljub Muslin of KSC Lokeren OV signs a contract with Lokomotiv Moskva starting on January 1, 2006.
* December 23, 2005 - Aimé Anthuenis replaces Muslin at the helm of KSC Lokeren OV.
* January 9, 2006 - Mouscron chooses Paul Put as a new coach.
* February 5, 2006 - the match-fixing scandal starts with the Flemish TV programme Panorama.
* February 9, 2006 - coach Herman Vermeulen is fired by Sint-Truidense VV after the cup defeat to Charleroi in the quarter-finals and a poor 18 points in 21 matches in the championship. He is replaced two days later by Thomas Caers.
* February 14, 2006 - As the main coach Aimé Anthuenis suffers from chest pains, he is replaced by coaches Rudy Cossey and Wlodek Lubanski.
* February 17, 2006 - Paul Put is sacked by Mouscron for being involved in the match-fixing scandal, and is replaced by Gil Vandenbrouck. Former Lierse players Marius Mitu and Laurent Delorge are fired by their club Anderlecht for the same reason.
* February 21, 2006 - Gilbert Bodart resigns as AA Louviéroise coach as he is cited as a potential actor in the match-fixing scandal. He is replaced by Frédéric Tilmant.
* February 23, 2006 - Club Brugge is eliminated from the UEFA Cup after a double 2–1 defeat to AS Roma. It was the last Belgian club competing in a European cup.
* February 27, 2006 - The former Belgium coach Aimé Anthuenis stops his coaching career for medical reasons.
* April 3, 2006 - Jan Ceulemans is sacked as Club Brugge manager and is replaced by Emilio Ferrera.
* April 24, 2006 - Gent player Mbark Boussoufa receives the Belgian Ebony Shoe.
* May 5, 2006 - Anderlecht finally wins the Jupiler League on the last matchday with a 3–0 victory against Zulte-Waregem. Lierse finished 17th and is qualified for the second division final round.
* May 7, 2006 - Mons wins the second division thanks to the defeat of leader KVSK United to Oud-Heverlee Leuven. Mbark Boussoufa wins the professional footballer of the year award.

## National team

Belgium continued their qualifying campaign for the Football World Cup 2006 but did not qualify.
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score* | Comp | Belgium scorers | Match Report |
| August 17, 2005 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels (H) | Greece | 2-0 | F | Emile Mpenza, Mbo Mpenza | www.dhnet.be |
| September 3, 2005 | Bilino Polje, Zenica (A) | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0-1 | WCQ | | www.dhnet.be |
| September 7, 2005 | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerp (H) | San Marino | 8-0 | WCQ | Timmy Simons (p), Koen Daerden (2), Thomas Buffel, Mbo Mpenza (2), Kevin Vandenbergh, Daniel Van Buyten | www.dhnet.be |
| October 8, 2005 | King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels (H) | Spain | 0-2 | WCQ | | www.sport.be Archived 2006-04-10 at the Wayback Machine |
| October 12, 2005 | Vėtra Stadium, Vilnius (A) | Lithuania | 1-1 | WCQ | Karel Geraerts | www.sport.be Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine |
| March 1, 2006 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg (A) | Luxembourg | 2-0** | F | Kevin Vandenbergh, Luigi Pieroni | www.sport.be Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine |
| May 11, 2006 | Wagner & Partners Stadion, Sittard (A) | Saudi Arabia | 2-1 | F | Tom Caluwé, Anthony Vanden Borre | www.sport.be Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine |
| May 20, 2006 | Štadión Antona Malatinského, Trnava (A) | Slovakia | 1-1 | F | Karel Geraerts | www.sport.be Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine |
| May 24, 2006 | Fenix Stadion, Genk (H) | Turkey | 3-3 | F | İbrahim Toraman (o.g.), Wesley Sonck, Carl Hoefkens | www.sport.be Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine |
* Belgium score given first
** Match stopped after 65 minutes because of bad weather
Key
* H = Home match
* A = Away match
* F = Friendly
* WCQ = FIFA World Cup 2006 Qualifying, European Zone Group 7
* o.g. = own goal

## European Qualification

| Competition | Qualifiers | Reason for Qualification |
| UEFA Champions League | R.S.C. Anderlecht | 1st in first division |
| UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round | Standard Liège | 2nd in first division |
| UEFA Cup | Club Brugge | 3rd in first division |
| UEFA Cup | S.V. Zulte-Waregem | Cup winners |
| UEFA Cup | K.S.V. Roeselare | via the fairplay draw |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup 3rd round | K.A.A. Gent | Highest first division finishers (4th) to have entered and not qualified for any other European competition |