2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division

The 2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division was the inaugural season of the division in its current format, replacing the former Belgian Fourth Division and now placed at the fifth-tier of football in Belgium.

Belgian Third Amateur Division
Season2016–17
ChampionsIngelmunster, Turnhout, RWDM47 and Durbuy
PromotedIngelmunster, Turnhout, RWDM47, Durbuy, Pepingen, Ronse, City Pirates, Sint-Lenaarts, Vosselaar and Rebecq
RelegatedBerlare, Sint-Gillis Waas, Zele, Helson Helchteren, Betekom, KRC Mechelen, Profondeville, Warnant and Arlon
← 2015–16 Fourth Division

The division consists of four separate leagues, leagues A and B consist of teams with a license from the Voetbalfederatie Vlaanderen (VFV, the Dutch speaking wing of the Belgian FA) and contain 16 teams each, while leagues C and D contain teams with a license from the Association des Clubs Francophones de Football (ACFF, the French speaking wing of the RBFA) and contain 14 teams each. The champions from each of the four leagues will promote to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division. The fixtures were announced on 5 July 2016.[1][2]

For the inaugural season the following teams participated:

  • The two teams finishing last in groups A and B of the 2015–16 Belgian Third Division.
  • 35 teams in the groups A through D of the 2015–16 Belgian Fourth Division that either did not qualify in the top three for direct promotion, did not win promotion through the promotion play-offs or dissolved.
  • 23 teams promoted from the Belgian Provincial Leagues.

Belgian Third Amateur Division A
Berlare
Dikkelvenne
Ingelmunster
Lebbeke
Lede
Mariekerke
Merelbeke
Ninove
Pepingen
S-G Waas
Vlamertinge
Wervik
Wetteren
Wolvertem
Locations of the 2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division A teams

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Ingelmunster[lower-alpha 1] (C, P) 30 22 5 3 71 33 +38 71 Promotion to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division
2 Wetteren 30 20 2 8 58 37 +21 62 Qualification to Promotion play-offs VFV
3 Pepingen (P) 30 16 7 7 50 38 +12 55
4 Ronse (P) 30 16 5 9 54 33 +21 53
5 Dikkelvenne 30 12 11 7 56 45 +11 47
6 Ninove 30 13 5 12 59 43 +16 44
7 Mariekerke 30 11 6 13 49 51 −2 39
8 Wolvertem Merchtem 30 11 6 13 38 52 −14 39
9 Lebbeke 30 10 9 11 49 43 +6 39
10 Lede 30 10 7 13 53 52 +1 37
11 Merelbeke 30 9 10 11 40 46 −6 37
12 Wervik 30 9 9 12 41 44 −3 36
13 Vlamertinge 30 8 7 15 37 46 −9 31 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 Berlare (R) 30 8 6 16 31 55 −24 30 Relegation to the 2017–18 Belgian Provincial Leagues
15 Sint-Gillis Waas (R) 30 4 12 14 24 49 −25 24
16 Zele (R) 30 3 9 18 25 68 −43 18
Source: https://int.soccerway.com/national/belgium/promotion/20162017/group-a/r36836/
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Although OMS Ingelmunster officially received promotion, the team will cease to exist and instead merge with KFC Izegem, playing in the Belgian Second Amateur Division, to become Mandel United. As a result, one extra promotion spot became available in the Promotion play-offs VFV.

Belgian Third Amateur Division B
Betekom
City Pirates
Eppegem
Helchteren
Houtvenne
Leopoldsburg
Nijlen
Esperanza Pelt
Sint-Lenaarts
Sterrebeek
Vosselaar
Wellen
Locations of the 2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division B teams

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Turnhout (C, P) 30 19 6 5 74 38 +36 63 Promotion to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division
2 City Pirates (P) 30 18 5 7 80 40 +40 59 Qualification to Promotion play-offs VFV
3 Sint-Lenaarts (P) 30 15 9 6 45 32 +13 54
4 Diegem 30 14 8 8 54 49 +5 50
5 Vosselaar (P) 30 15 4 11 55 49 +6 49
6 Esperanza Pelt 30 13 6 11 49 44 +5 45
7 Houtvenne 30 13 5 12 60 53 +7 44
8 Eppegem 30 12 7 11 49 49 0 43
9 Leopoldsburg 30 10 9 11 38 38 0 39
10 Nijlen 30 10 8 12 31 36 −5 38
11 Wellen 30 10 6 14 48 42 +6 36
12 Sterrebeek 30 9 9 12 37 40 −3 36
13 Diest 30 9 7 14 46 67 −21 34 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 Helchteren (R) 30 9 5 16 29 44 −15 32 Relegation to the 2017–18 Belgian Provincial Leagues
15 Betekom (R) 30 9 5 16 45 67 −22 32
16 Racing Mechelen (R) 30 2 7 21 29 81 −52 13
Source: https://int.soccerway.com/national/belgium/promotion/20162017/vfv-b/r37999/
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

Belgian Third Amateur Division C
Ganshoren
Manage
Onhaye
Profondeville
Quevy-Mons
Solre
Tamines
Waterloo
Locations of the 2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division C teams

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 RWDM47 (C, P) 26 19 4 3 72 31 +41 61 Promotion to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division
2 Rebecq (P) 26 19 4 3 58 24 +34 61 Qualification to Promotion play-offs ACFF
3 Francs Borains 26 18 6 2 63 21 +42 60
4 Albert Quevy-Mons 26 13 8 5 54 28 +26 47
5 Tournai 26 11 7 8 55 46 +9 40
6 Onhaye 26 11 4 11 34 44 −10 37
7 Manage 26 9 8 9 34 35 −1 35
8 Uccle 26 8 10 8 44 32 +12 34
9 Wavre 26 8 6 12 41 35 +6 30
10 Solre 26 6 9 11 32 59 −27 27
11 Waterloo 26 7 5 14 30 49 −19 26
12 Ganshoren 26 7 4 15 38 66 −28 25
13 Tamines 26 5 5 16 29 51 −22 20 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 Profondeville (R) 26 0 2 24 18 81 −63 2 Relegation to the 2017–18 Belgian Provincial Leagues
Source: https://int.soccerway.com/national/belgium/promotion/20162017/group-a/r36836/
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

Belgian Third Amateur Division D
Aische
Arlon
Aywaille
Bertrix
Cointe
Durbuy
Herstal
Huy
Longlier
Mormont
Richelle
Verlaine
Warnant
Locations of the 2016–17 Belgian Third Amateur Division D teams

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Durbuy (C, P) 26 20 4 2 52 15 +37 64 Promotion to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division
2 Tilleur 26 17 6 3 60 20 +40 57 Qualification to Promotion play-offs ACFF
3 Verlaine 26 13 6 7 40 29 +11 45
4 Richelle 26 12 7 7 46 36 +10 43
5 Mormont 26 12 5 9 49 42 +7 41
6 Huy 26 12 3 11 51 44 +7 39
7 Bertrix 26 8 8 10 39 46 −7 32
8 Cointe 26 9 4 13 38 47 −9 31
9 Aische 26 9 3 14 35 42 −7 30
10 Longlier 26 8 6 12 35 40 −5 30
11 Herstal 26 7 7 12 30 36 −6 28
12 Aywaille 26 7 7 12 30 43 −13 28
13 Warnant (R) 26 8 3 15 34 61 −27 27 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 Arlon (R) 26 2 7 17 32 70 −38 13 Relegation to the 2017–18 Belgian Provincial Leagues
Source: https://int.soccerway.com/national/belgium/promotion/20162017/group-a/r36836/
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

Promotion play-offs

Promotion play-offs VFV

The teams finishing in second place in the Third Amateur Division A and Third Amateur Division B will take part in a promotion playoff first round together with three period winners from both divisions. These 8 teams from the VFV will play the first round of a promotion-playoff, with normally only teams promoting to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division. Depending on the number of VFV teams relegating from the 2016–17 Belgian First Amateur Division, more teams might get promoted which was the case this season as before the play-offs it was already known that on the VFV side at least four teams would gain promotion through the play-offs, due to the fact that Coxyde vacated its place and the upcoming merger between Izegem and Ingelmunster to form Mandel United. As a result, the four winning teams in the VFV Round 1 immediately received promotion, while the other teams continued the play-offs to determine the order in which possible further places would be awarded.

In Division A, champions Ingelmunster and second placed Wetteren won the three periods, allowing the next three teams in the league to take part: Pepingen, Ronse and Dikkelvenne. In Division B, Sint-Lenaarts and Vosselaar each won one period and were assured of a place in the play-offs before the end of the season, the other places were taken by City Pirates (for finishing second overall) and Diegem (the highest finisher not already qualified).

VFV Round 1
Pepingen2–3Ronse
City Pirates3–2Wetteren
Vosselaar2–0Diegem
Dikkelvenne0–3Sint-Lenaarts

City Pirates, Ronse, Sint-Lenaarts and Vosselaar promoted to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division. Diegem, Dikkelvenne, Pepingen and Wetteren continue into the VFV Round 2 where one extra place is available.

VFV Round 2
Dikkelvenne2–0Wetteren
Pepingen2–1Diegem

Dikkelvenne and Pepingen move to the VFV Round 3 to play for promotion, Diegem and Wetteren eliminated.

VFV Round 3
Pepingen3–2Dikkelvenne

Pepingen promoted to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division, Dikkelvenne eliminated.

Promotion play-offs ACFF

The team finishing in second place in the Third Amateur Division C and Third Amateur Division D will take part in a promotion playoff first round together with three period winners from both divisions. These 8 teams from the ACFF will play the first round of a promotion-playoff, with one team promoting to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division.

In Division C, the top three teams had each won one period. With champions RWDM47 already promoted, the other places were taken by 4th placed Albert Quevy-Mons and 5th placed Tournai. In Division D, the champions Durbuy had won two periods, the other went to Tilleur who were joined in the play-offs by the teams finishing 3rd to 5th, Verlaine, Richelle and Mormont.

ACFF Round 1
Rebecq4–2Albert Quevy-Mons
Tilleur4–5Verlaine
Mormont3–2Francs Borains
Richelle1–0Tournai

Mormont, Rebecq, Richelle and Verlaine moved on to Round 2 while Albert Quevy-Mons, Francs Borains, Tilleur and Tournai were eliminated.

ACFF Round 2
Rebecq2–1Mormont
Verlaine4–0Richelle

Rebecq and Verlaine moved on to Round 3 to play for promotion. Mormont and Richelle played a match to determine third place in case extra promotion places would come up.

ACFF Round 3
Verlaine2–2 (a.e.t.)Rebecq
Penalties
2–4

Rebecq was promoted to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division, while Verlaine was first in line to fill up any extra vacant spot in case the amount of ACFF teams relegating in leagues above would have increased. In the end, no places freed up and Verlaine remained in the Third Amateur Division.

Third place match
Mormont2–1Richelle

The third place match was played to determine the order in which teams would fill any extra promotion places, if they would become available. Behind Verlaine, Mormont was ranked above Richelle due to winning the third place match. However in the end no places freed up and both teams remained in the Third Amateur Division.

Relegation play-offs

ACFF
Warnant1–4 (a.e.t.)Tamines
Vanstechelman  68' Report Deketelaere  23', 111'
Jeanmart  98' (pen.)
Tshiala  117'
Warnant

Warnant is relegated to the Belgian Provincial Leagues.

VFV
Vlamertinge3–0Diest

Before the match, it was not known whether an extra VFV team would be relegated, which depended on the result of the Second Amateur Division promotion play-offs. If an ACFF team won those promotion play-offs, then an extra VFV team would be relegated. By winning the match, Vlamertinge was sure of avoiding relegation, while losing team Diest were now dependent on the result of the only ACFF team in contention for promotion, RFC Liège. On 28 May 2017, RFC Liège lost the final match of the promotion play-off, resulting in Diest being also saved and avoiding relegation to the Belgian Provincial Leagues.

References
  1. "Deuxième et Troisième amateurs : saison 2016-2017". Belgian Third Amateur Division. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. "Tweede en Derde amateurs : seizoen 2016-2017". Belgian Third Amateur Division. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
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