Belgian National Division 1

The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division B. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 2016, coming in at the third level and pushing all divisions one level down. Until the 2019–20 season, it was known as the Belgian First Amateur Division, but was renamed due to the negative connotation of the word amateur.

Belgian National Division 1
Founded2016
CountryBelgium
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid3
Promotion toBelgian First Division B
Relegation toBelgian Division 2
Domestic cup(s)Belgian Cup
Current championsDeinze
(2019–20)
Current: 2020–21 Belgian First Amateur Division

History

The Belgian First Amateur Division was created in 2016 following an overhaul of the Belgian football league system which saw the number of professional clubs reduced to 24. As a result, from the third level and below only amateur clubs remain.[1] The two remaining levels above the Belgian Provincial leagues were reformed into three amateur levels, namely the Belgian First Amateur Division, the Belgian Second Amateur Division and the Belgian Third Amateur Division. As a result, the Belgian Provincial Leagues dropped to the sixth level of the league system. In 2020 the levels were renamed to Belgian National Division 1, Belgian Division 2, and Belgian Division 3 respectively.

Competition format

The season is a regular round-robin tournament with 16 teams. The top four teams after the regular season play a promotion playoff in which they keep 50% of the obtained points during the regular season and the team with the most points after the playoff is promoted to the Belgian First Division B.[2]

Regarding relegation, the bottom three teams are automatically demoted, while the team finishing in 13th place play a relegation playoff together with three teams from the Belgian Second Amateur Division with the playoff winner obtaining a spot in the following season's Belgian First Amateur Division.

Past results overview
Season Regular season winner Promotion play-off participants Champions Promoted Relegated
2016–17Beerschot WilrijkBeerschot Wilrijk, Dessel Sport, Heist and VirtonBeerschot WilrijkBeerschot WilrijkCoxyde, Hasselt, Sprimont-Comblain and WS Bruxelles
2017–18LommelDeinze, Dessel Sport, Knokke and LommelKnokkeLommel[nb 1]Berchem, Hamme and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen
2018–19TessenderloDeinze, Lierse Kempenzonen, Tessenderlo and VirtonVirtonVirtonAalst, ASV Geel, Knokke and Oudenaarde
2019–20Deinzenot held due to coronavirus pandemicDeinzeDeinze, RWDM47 and Seraing[nb 2]Tubize[nb 2]
2020–21season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.[3]

Footnotes
  1. Champions Knokke did not apply for a professional football license, allowing runners-up Lommel to be promoted instead.
  2. Due to the fact that both Roeselare and Virton from the 2019–20 Belgian First Division B were refused a professional football license and the bankruptcy of Lokeren, two additional teams were promoted besides champions Deinze. Similarly, two teams were spared of relegation (Sint-Eloois-Winkel Sport and La Louvière Centre) resulting in only Tubize being relegated.

References
  1. "La réforme du championnat approuvée: une grande lessive se prépare en D2 (INFOGRAPHIE)" (in French). dh.be. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  2. "Bondsreglement" (PDF) (in Dutch). Royal Belgian Football Association. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. "Amateurcompetities definitief stopgezet, jeugdvoetbal tot U13 blijft mogelijk" [Amateur leagues cancelled definitively, youth matches until U13 remain possible] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
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