2003–04 Belgian First Division

The 2003–04 season of the Belgian First Division was held between 8 August 2003 and 15 May 2004. Sporting Anderlecht became champions on 24 April 2004.

Location of teams in Belgian First Division 2003–04

These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the season:

Relegated teams

These teams were relegated to the second division at the end of the season:

Anderlecht's title success

The battle for the title was not great as Anderlecht had a big lead over their opponents (mainly Club Brugge). However, a bad finish from Anderlecht kept the suspense until the 31st matchday when Club Brugge drew with Mouscron while the team from Brussels also drew (1-1) at Herman Vanderpoortenstadion, the homeground of Lierse.

Battle for Europe

The next week, Club Brugge was sure to enter the UEFA Champions League Preliminary Round with a 1-0 win against Standard Liège, then lying third. In spite of this defeat, Standard managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup as they were 6 points ahead of Mouscron after the 32nd matchday. The suspense was killed after a 1-1 draw against Charleroi the next Saturday.

The relegation dog fight

The end of the league was thus centered on the battle against relegation. Four teams were concerned : R.A.E.C. Mons and Charleroi, which finally saved themselves, R. Antwerp F.C. and K. Beringen-Heusden-Zolder finishing respectively 6 and 5 points adrift.

Final league table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 R.S.C. Anderlecht 34 25 6 3 77 27 +50 81 Qualified for 2004–05 UEFA Champions League[lower-alpha 1]
2 Club Brugge 34 22 6 6 77 31 +46 72
3 Standard Liège 34 18 11 5 68 31 +37 65 Qualified for 2004–05 UEFA Cup
4 K.R.C. Genk 34 17 8 9 58 40 +18 59 Qualified for 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup
5 R.E. Mouscron 34 15 14 5 64 42 +22 59
6 K.V.C. Westerlo 34 14 10 10 51 45 +6 52 Qualified for 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup
7 K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot 34 11 11 12 34 40 −6 44
8 R.A.A. Louviéroise 34 10 14 10 45 46 −1 44
9 K.A.A. Gent 34 8 16 10 33 34 −1 40 Qualified for 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup
10 K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen 34 10 9 15 45 54 −9 39
11 Lierse S.K. 34 8 15 11 33 40 −7 39
12 K.S.K. Beveren 34 11 5 18 45 58 −13 38 Qualified for 2004–05 UEFA Cup
13 K. Sint-Truidense V.V. 34 9 11 14 36 50 −14 38
14 Cercle Brugge K.S.V. 34 7 14 13 28 52 −24 35
15 R. Charleroi S.C. 34 8 9 17 35 47 −12 33
16 R.A.E.C. Mons 34 7 12 15 29 52 −23 33
17 K. Beringen-Heusden-Zolder 34 7 7 20 36 68 −32 28 Relegated to Division II
18 R. Antwerp F.C. 34 7 6 21 30 67 −37 27
Source:
Notes:
  1. Club Brugge competed in the UEFA Cup First Round after being eliminated in the Champions League Third Qualifying Round.

Top goal scorers
Scorer Goals Team
Luigi Pieroni 28 Mouscron
Émile Mpenza 21 Standard Liège
Tosin Dosunmu 16 Westerlo
Aruna Dindane 15 Anderlecht
Gert Verheyen 15 Club Brugge
Andrés Mendoza 14 Club Brugge
Cédric Roussel 14 Racing Genk

See also

References
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