2009–10 in Belgian football
The 2009–10 football season in Belgium, which is the 107th season of competitive football in the country and runs from August 2009 until July 2010. Promotion and relegation. Team promoted to 2009–10 Belgian First Division Teams relegated from Belgian First Division 2008–09 Teams promoted to 2009–10 Belgian Second Division Teams relegated from 2008–09 Belgian Second Division Teams promoted to 2009–10 Belgian Third Division Teams relegated from 2008–09 Belgian Third Division League competitions. Belgian First Division. Europa League playoff final. "Genk won 5–2 on aggregate." Testmatches Europa League. "Genk won 5–3 on aggregate." Transfers. Notable transfers. With  the shrinking of the Belgian First Division from 18 to 16 teams, only few players of relegated teams were able to stay in first division, with Sulejman Smajić arguably the most important one as he moved from Dender EH to Lokeren. After an impressive season, Bryan Ruiz decided it was time to move as the Costa Rican international signed a contract with Twente and thereby left Gent. At Standard Liège, Oguchi Onyewu moved on a free transfer to AC Milan. To replace him, four Portuguese speaking players were signed, with Ricardo Rocha from Tottenham Hotspur being most known. Club Brugge  made some impressive signings as they bought Belgian international Carl Hoefkens together with striker Ivan Perišić who had just helped Roeselare to avoid relegation. Under influence of Dutch coach Adrie Koster, central defender Ryan Donk was also signed. Most noted signing for Anderlecht was Ondřej Mazuch from Fiorentina. Mouscron was noticed for signing several unknown players from France, Italy and especially Spain, mostly coming from teams in third and fourth division. A few minutes before the deadline, Cercle Brugge and Genk finished negotiations as they formed a deal which meant Thomas Buffel moved from Cercle Brugge to Genk with Hans  Cornelis making the opposite move. On top of that Jelle Vossen was loaned out by Genk for a season to Cercle Brugge. During the first half of the season, Standard signed former French international Olivier Dacourt to replace the injured Steven Defour. In the winter period, the bankruptcy of Mouscron caused all their players to be contacted by several teams as they were all free to sign new contracts. Club Brugge managed to sign youngsters Maxime Lestienne and Daan van Gijseghem although there was a lot of interest by many clubs, especially for Lestienne. Standard bought Belgian internationals Sébastien Pocognoli  and Koen Daerden, while Anderlecht signed a player from fifth division named Paul Taylor and then loaned him to Charleroi. Also returning Belgian internationals were Luigi Pieroni, the 2003–04 Belgian League top scorer, who signed for Gent and Peter Van Der Heyden who signed for Club Brugge. European Club results. "Note that the Belgian team's score is always given first." Champions Standard Liège were directly qualified for the Champions League while Anderlecht had to start in the qualification rounds. Starting in the new UEFA Europa League were Club Brugge, Gent and Genk. The Belgian teams had one of their  best seasons of the final decade as both Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard were not eliminated before winter and played on far into 2010: National teams. Belgium. As interim coach Franky Vercauteren chose to resign after the loss in Armenia, prompting already signed Dick Advocaat to start already, although his contract started only on 1 January 2010. Advocaat however simply resigned in April 2010 to sign a new contract at Russia where he could earn a lot more. The Royal Belgian Football Association reacted disappointed and angry at the same time, whereas Advocaat claimed he "did not feel guilty at  all". On May 11, Georges Leekens was appointed the new coach, who had already managed the 'Red Devils' between 1997 and 1999. World Cup qualifiers. Belgium was in qualifying Group 5 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup but did not manage to qualify. Belgium U-21. U-21 Championship qualifiers. The Belgium under-21 squad is currently in Group 8 of the qualification process for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. This leaves two matches, away to Slovenia and away to France to be played in the next season. Belgium U-19. U-19 Championship qualifiers. The Belgium under-19 squad managed to qualify for  the elite round qualification process for the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship after successfully passing through the first stage of qualifying. However they did not manage to qualify for the tournament proper as they ended second to Croatia in group 1. Women. World Cup qualifiers. Belgium was in qualifying Group 8 for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, but failed to qualify.