# 2014–15 Belgian Pro League

The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Pro League (known as the Jupiler Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the 112th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2014 and finished in May 2015. K.A.A. Gent won the league, making it the first championship title in their 115-year history.

## Teams

Following the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, R.A.E.C. Mons were relegated to the 2014–15 Belgian Second Division after losing their relegation playoff series against OH Leuven. Mons is replaced by 2013–14 Belgian Second Division champions K.V.C. Westerlo, who returned to the highest level after their relegation during the 2011–12 season.
Mouscron-Péruwelz replaces OH Leuven as they won the 2014 Belgian Second Division final round head of K.A.S. Eupen, Sint-TruidenV.V. and OH Leuven.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Anderlecht | Anderlecht | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium | 21,000 |
| Cercle Brugge | Brugge | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,945 |
| Charleroi | Charleroi | Stade du Pays de Charleroi | 25,000 |
| Club Brugge | Brugge | Jan Breydel Stadium | 29,945 |
| K.R.C. Genk | Genk | Cristal Arena | 24,900 |
| K.A.A. Gent | Ghent | Ghelamco Arena | 20,000 |
| Kortrijk | Kortrijk | Guldensporen Stadion | 9,500 |
| Lierse | Lier | Herman Vanderpoortenstadion | 14,538 |
| Lokeren | Lokeren | Daknamstadion | 10,000 |
| Mechelen | Mechelen | Argosstadion Achter de Kazerne | 13,123 |
| Mouscron-Péruwelz | Mouscron | Stade Le Canonnier | 10,800 |
| Oostende | Ostend | Albertpark | 8,125 |
| Standard Liège | Liège | Stade Maurice Dufrasne | 30,000 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Beveren | Freethiel Stadion | 13,290 |
| Westerlo | Westerlo | Het Kuipje | 7,982 |
| Zulte Waregem | Waregem | Regenboogstadion | 8,500 |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Chairman | Manager | Manufacturer | Sponsors |
| Anderlecht | Roger Vanden Stock | Besnik Hasi | adidas | BNP Paribas Fortis |
| Cercle Brugge | Paul Vanhaecke | Dennis van Wijk | Masita | ADMB |
| Charleroi | Fabien Debecq | Felice Mazzu | Maps | belgacom |
| Club Brugge | Bart Verhaeghe | Michel Preud'homme | Nike | proximus |
| Genk | Herbert Houben | Alex McLeish | Nike | beobank |
| Gent | Michel Louwagie | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Masita/Jartazi | VDK |
| Kortrijk | Joseph Allijns | Yves Vanderhaeghe | Jako | AGO Jobs |
| Lierse | Maged Samy | Olivier Guillou | Jako | Wadi Degla |
| Lokeren | Roger Lambrecht | Peter Maes | Jartazi | QTeam |
| Mechelen | Johan Timmermans | Aleksandar Janković | Kappa | Telenet |
| Mouscron-Péruwelz | Edward Van Daele | Fernando Da Cruz | Nike | TradeCo |
| Oostende | Marc Coucke | Frederik Vanderbiest | Joma | Versluys |
| Standard Liège | Roland Duchâtelet | José Riga | Joma | BASE |
| Waasland-Beveren | Jozef Van Remoortel | Guido Brepoels | Jako | Remo Frit |
| Westerlo | Herman Wijnants | Harm van Veldhoven | Saller | Soudal |
| Zulte Waregem | Willy Naessens | Francky Dury | Patrick | Record Bank |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Gent | Peter Balette | Replaced | End of 2013–14 season | Pre-season | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | 5 May 2014 |
| Kortrijk | Hein Vanhaezebrouck | Signed by Gent | End of 2013–14 season | Pre-season | Yves Vanderhaeghe | 28 May 2014 |
| Mechelen | Franky Vercauteren | Resigned | End of 2013–14 season | Pre-season | Aleksandar Janković | 8 May 2014 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Bob Peeters | Resigned | End of 2013–14 season | Pre-season | Ronny Van Geneugden | 28 May 2014 |
| Genk | Emilio Ferrera | Sacked | 29 July 2014 | 11th | Alex McLeish | 22 August 2014 |
| Lierse | Stanley Menzo | Sacked | 31 August 2014 | 16th | Slaviša Stojanovič | 5 September 2014 |
| Cercle Brugge | Lorenzo Staelens | Sacked | 6 October 2014 | 14th | Arnar Viðarsson | 6 October 2014 |
| Standard Liège | Guy Luzon | Sacked | 20 October 2014 | 11th | Ivan Vukomanović | 5 November 2014 |
| Mouscron-Péruwelz | Rachid Chihab | Sacked | 29 December 2014 | 12th | Fernando da Cruz | 29 December 2014 |
| Waasland-Beveren | Ronny Van Geneugden | Sacked | 30 December 2014 | 14th | Guido Brepoels | 5 January 2015 |
| Westerlo | Dennis van Wijk | Sacked | 3 January 2015 | 13th | Harm van Veldhoven | 6 January 2015 |
| Lierse | Slaviša Stojanovič | Resigned | 28 January 2015 | 16th | Herman Helleputte | 28 January 2015 |
| Lierse | Herman Helleputte | Resigned | 30 January 2015 | 16th | Olivier Guillou | 30 January 2015 |
| Standard Liège | Ivan Vukomanović | Replaced | 2 February 2015 | 5th | José Riga | 2 February 2015 |
| Cercle Brugge | Arnar Viðarsson | Sacked | 18 March 2015 | Relegation Playoff, 1st | Dennis van Wijk | 18 March 2015 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Club Brugge | 30 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 69 | 28 | +41 | 61 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 2 | Gent | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 52 | 29 | +23 | 57 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 51 | 30 | +21 | 57 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Standard Liège | 30 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 49 | 39 | +10 | 53 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Kortrijk | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 54 | 35 | +19 | 51 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Charleroi | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 44 | 31 | +13 | 49 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Genk | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 49 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 8 | Lokeren | 30 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 42 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 9 | Mechelen | 30 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 41 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 10 | Oostende | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 38 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 11 | Westerlo | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 42 | 63 | −21 | 33 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 12 | Zulte Waregem | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 31 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 13 | Mouscron-Péruwelz | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 32 | 51 | −19 | 26 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 14 | Waasland-Beveren | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 30 | 49 | −19 | 26 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs |
| 15 | Cercle Brugge | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 45 | −24 | 24 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 16 | Lierse | 30 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 30 | 63 | −33 | 22 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AND | CER | CHA | BRU | GNK | GNT | KVK | LIE | LOK | KVM | MOU | KVO | STA | WBE | WES | ZWA |
| Anderlecht | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Cercle Brugge | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Charleroi | 3–1 | 0–2 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Club Brugge | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 5–0 | 2–1 |
| Genk | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 3–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Gent | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 |
| Kortrijk | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 3–1 |
| Lierse | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–6 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 |
| Lokeren | 1–2 | 0–0 | 5–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Mechelen | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 1–1 |
| Mouscron-Péruwelz | 4–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Oostende | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–7 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 3–2 | 4–3 | 4–0 | 1–3 |
| Standard Liège | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–5 | | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Waasland-Beveren | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Westerlo | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 2–2 |
| Zulte Waregem | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–3 | |
* ↑ The match was abandoned after 89 minutes due to Standard Liège supporter violence, with Zulte Waregem at that time leading 1–2. Standard Liège was subsequently given a 0–5 loss and forced to play one match behind closed doors. Standard however objected this ruling and after revision by the Belgian Sportsarbitrage, it was decided that the 1–2 result stood and that Standard was fined €5000. The one match behind closed doors penalty was dropped.

## Championship playoff

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: Club Brugge 31 points, Gent 29, Anderlecht 29, Standard 27, Kortrijk 26 and Charleroi 25. Had any ties occurred at the end of the playoffs, the half point would have been deducted if it was added. However, as all six teams received the half point bonus, this did not make a difference this season.

### Playoff table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GNT | CLU | AND | STA | CHA | KOR |
| 1 | Gent (C) | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 49 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage | — | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Club Brugge | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 47 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Anderlecht | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 13 | +5 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Standard Liège | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 5 | Charleroi | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 36 | Qualification for the Testmatches to Europa League | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 5–2 |
| 6 | Kortrijk | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 22 | −11 | 34 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — |
* ↑ Since winners of the 2014–15 Belgian Cup, Club Brugge, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League group stage) was passed to the third-placed team and the other spots were adjusted accordingly.
* ↑ The team finishing in fifth place, Charleroi, will play the testmatches against the winner of the Belgian Europa League playoff final, for a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.

## Europa League playoff

Group A contains the teams finishing the regular season in positions 7, 9, 12 and 14. The teams that finish in positions 8, 10, 11 and 13 were placed in Group B.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KVM | GNK | ZWA | W-B |
| 1 | Mechelen (A) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 15 | Qualification for the Playoff Final | — | 4–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Genk | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 15 | | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 7–1 |
| 3 | Zulte Waregem | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 4 | | 0–1 | 2–3 | — | 2–2 |
| 4 | Waasland-Beveren | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 19 | −14 | 1 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LOK | RMP | OOS | WES |
| 1 | Lokeren (A) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 13 | Qualification for the Playoff Final | — | 2–1 | 6–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Mouscron-Péruwelz | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 10 | | 1–5 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Oostende | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 6 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Westerlo | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 5 | | 4–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | — |

### Europa League playoff final

The winners of both playoff groups, Mechelen and Lokeren, compete in a two-legged match to play the fourth-placed team of the championship playoff, called Testmatch. The winners of this Testmatch will be granted entry to the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
Mechelen won 4–3 on aggregate.

### Testmatches Europa League

The Europa League playoff final was played over two legs between the Europa league playoff final winners, Mechelen, and the fifth-placed finisher of the championship playoff, Charleroi. The winners qualified for the second qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
Charleroi wins 3–2 on aggregate

## Relegation playoff

The teams that finished in the last two positions will face each other in the relegation playoff. Lierse was sure of ending up in the relegation playoff after losing away to Gent on 7 March 2015, while Cercle Brugge qualified one week later after losing 2–3 at home to Mechelen.
The winner of this playoff will play the second division playoff with three Belgian Second Division teams, with only the winner of that playoff playing at the highest level the next season. Lierse failed to win the Belgian Second Division playoff resulting in their relegation, in addition to Cercle Brugge.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Lierse (R) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 9 | Qualification for the Belgian Second Division final round |
| 2 | Cercle Brugge (R) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 6 | Relegation to 2015–16 Belgian Second Division |
The matches in the table below were played from left to right:
| Home \ Away | LIE | CER | LIE | CER | LIE | CER |
| Lierse | | 0–1 | | 3–1 | | |
| Cercle Brugge | 2–3 | | 0–2 | | – | |
* ↑ Match not played as Cercle Brugge could no longer overtake Lierse in the standings. In case of a tie, Lierse would have still ranked above Cercle Brugge due to the number of matches won.

## Season statistics

Source: Sport.be (in Dutch)
Up to and including matches played on 24 May 2015.

### Top scorers

| Position | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Aleksandar Mitrović | Anderlecht | 20 |
| 2 | Ivan Santini | Kortrijk | 15 |
| 3 | Renaud Emond | Waasland-Beveren | 14 |
| 3 | Geoffrey Mujangi Bia | Standard Liège | 14 |
| 5 | Laurent Depoitre | Gent | 13 |
| 5 | José Izquierdo | Club Brugge | 13 |
| 5 | Dalibor Veselinović | Mechelen | 13 |
| 8 | Teddy Chevalier | Kortrijk | 12 |
| 8 | Abdoulay Diaby | Mouscron-Péruwelz | 12 |
| 8 | Mijat Marić | Lokeren | 12 |

### Hat-tricks

Key :
| $^4$ | Player scored four goals |
| * | The home team |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Nicolás Castillo | Club Brugge* | Westerlo | 5–0 | 9 November 2014 |
| Moses Simon | Gent | Lokeren* | 3–3 | 1 February 2015 |
| Ivan Santini$^4$ | Kortrijk* | Westerlo | 6–0 | 21 February 2015 |
| John Jairo Ruiz | Oostende | Zulte Waregem* | 1–4 | 15 March 2015 |
| Zinho Gano | Mouscron-Péruwelz | Westerlo* | 0–3 | 4 April 2015 |