# 1970–71 in Belgian football

The 1970–71 season was the 68th season of competitive football in Belgium. Standard Club Liégeois won their 6th Division I title. RFC Brugeois reached the quarter-finals of the 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup. K Beerschot VAV won the Belgian Cup final against K Sint-Truidense VV (2-1 after extra time). The Belgium national football team started their UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying campaign as they were drawn in Group 5 with Portugal, Scotland and Denmark. They won all of their first 4 games and finished the season at the top of Group 5, 2 points ahead of Portugal with 2 matches to go.

## Overview

At the end of the season, R Charleroi SC and ARA La Gantoise were relegated to the Division II, to be replaced by KSV Cercle Brugge and KV Mechelen from Division II. The bottom 2 clubs in Division II (ASV Oostende KM and KSV Sottegem) were relegated to Division III, to be replaced by KSK Tongeren and K Boom FC from Division III. The bottom club of each Division III league (VC Westerlo, RC Tirlemont, Kortrijk Sport and R Jet de Bruxelles) were relegated to the Promotion, to be replaced by R Herve FC, Wavre Sports, K Helzold FC and KSC Lokeren from Promotion.

## National team

| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Comp | Belgium scorers |
| November 15, 1970 | Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H) | France | 1-2 | F | Wilfried Van Moer |
| November 25, 1970 | Klokke Stadion, Bruges (H) | Denmark | 2-0 | ECQ | Johan Devrindt (2) |
| February 3, 1971 | Stade de Sclessin, Liège (H) | Scotland | 3-0 | ECQ | Ronnie McKinnon (o.g.), Paul Van Himst (2) |
| February 17, 1971 | Stade Emile Versé, Brussels (H) | Portugal | 3-0 | ECQ | Raoul Lambert (2), André Denul |
| May 20, 1971 | Stade Municipal, Luxembourg (A) | Luxembourg | 4-0 | F | André Denul, Paul Van Himst, Léon Semmeling, Wilfried Van Moer |
| May 26, 1971 | Idrætspark, Copenhagen (A) | Denmark | 2-1 | ECQ | Johan Devrindt (2) |
Key
* H = Home match
* A = Away match
* N = On neutral ground
* F = Friendly
* ECQ = European Championship qualification
* o.g. = own goal

## European competitions

Standard Club Liégeois beat Rosenborg BK of Norway in the first round of the 1970–71 European Champion Clubs' Cup (won 2-0 away, 5-0 at home) but lost in the second round to Legia Warsaw of Poland (won 1-0 at home, lost 0-2 away).
RFC Brugeois eliminated Kickers Offenbach of West Germany in the first round of the 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup (lost 1-2 away, won 2-0 at home) and FC Zürich of Switzerland in the second round (won 2-0 at home, lost 1-2 away). In the quarter-finals, Bruges lost to future winner Chelsea FC after extra time (won 2-0 at home, lost 0-4 away).
The 3 Belgian clubs who entered the 1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup were ARA La Gantoise, RSC Anderlechtois and KSK Beveren. In the first round, RSC Anderlechtois beat NK Željezničar of Yugoslavia (won 4-3 away, 5-4 at home) and KSK Beveren beat Wiener Sportclub of Austria (won 2-0 away, 3-0 at home), but ARA La Gantoise lost to Hamburger SV of West Germany (lost 0-1 at home, 1-7 away). In the second round, RSC Anderlechtois beat Akademisk Boldklub of Denmark (won 3-1 away, 4-0 at home), while KSK Beveren beat Valencia CF of Spain (won 1-0 away, drew 1-1 at home). Both clubs exited at the third round, RSC Anderlechtois to Vitoria FC of Portugal (won 2-1 at home, lost 1-3 away after extra time) and KSK Beveren to Arsenal FC (lost 0-4 away, drew 0-0 at home).

## Honours

| Competition | Winner |
| Division I | Standard Club Liégeois |
| Cup | K Beerschot VAV |
| Division II | KSV Cercle Brugge |
| Division III | KSK Tongeren and K Boom FC |
| Promotion | R Herve FC, Wavre Sports, K Helzold FC and KSC Lokeren |

## Final league tables
### Premier Division

* 1970-71 Top scorer: West German Erwin Kostedde (Standard Club Liégeois) with 26 goals
* 1970 Golden Shoe: Wilfried Van Moer (Standard Club Liégeois)