2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division

The 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division was the second season of the third-tier football league in Belgium, as it was established in 2016. The fixtures were announced near the end of June 2017.

Belgian First Amateur Division
Season2017–18
ChampionsKnokke
PromotedLommel
RelegatedHamme, Berchem Sport and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen

Although Knokke won the title after winning the playoffs, it was Lommel who were promoted as Knokke had not applied for a license to play at the professional level. At the bottom side of the table, following the bankruptcy of Lierse (playing in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B), one less team was forced to relegate. As a result, 13th placed Châtelet was saved and did not have to play the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division Promotion play-offs Final, which was played instead by Hamme who avoided direct relegation. Hamme in the end could not win the Promotion Final and was relegated after all, together with Berchem Sport and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen who had finished in the bottom two places.

Team information
Locations of the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division teams

Team changes

In
  • Lommel United was relegated from the 2016–17 Belgian First Division B after finishing last in the relegation play-offs. In the mid-season the team changed their name back to Lommel SK.
  • Knokke was promoted after winning the 2016–17 Belgian Second Amateur Division A.
  • Berchem Sport was promoted after winning the 2016–17 Belgian Second Amateur Division B.
  • Châtelet was promoted after winning the 2016–17 Belgian Second Amateur Division C.
  • Aalst won the Second Amateur Division promotion play-offs to obtain the final promotion spot.

Out
  • Beerschot Wilrijk were promoted as 2016–17 Belgian First Amateur Division winners.
  • Coxyde finished in the relegation zone (14th) in the 2016–17 Belgian First Amateur Division and was therefore relegated. On top of that, the team announced it would be folding its first team for one season, only to be restarted for the 2018–19 season at the very bottom level of the Belgian football pyramid. As a result they had not applied for a Belgian remunerated football license and would have been relegated irrespective of their finishing position.
  • WS Brussels finished in the relegation zone (15th) in the 2016–17 Belgian First Amateur Division and was therefore relegated. On top of that, the team was refused a Belgian remunerated football license by the Belgian FA for outstanding debts and would therefore have relegated automatically.
  • Sprimont-Comblain finished in the relegation zone (16th) in the 2016–17 Belgian First Amateur Division and was therefore relegated to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division
  • Hasselt was also relegated to the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division after finishing 13th meant they were to take part in the Second Amateur Division promotion play-offs, where the team failed to regain its place in the First Amateur Division.

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Lommel[lower-alpha 1] 30 22 5 3 69 20 +49 71 Qualification for the promotion play-offs
2 Knokke 30 18 7 5 69 32 +37 61
3 Dessel[lower-alpha 2] 30 18 6 6 53 29 +24 60
4 Deinze[lower-alpha 3] 30 15 5 10 44 30 +14 50
5 Seraing[lower-alpha 4] 30 13 9 8 50 34 +16 48
6 Heist 30 13 8 9 47 45 +2 47
7 Oudenaarde 30 13 6 11 50 36 +14 45
8 Aalst 30 13 5 12 48 46 +2 44
9 ASV Geel 30 11 6 13 47 53 −6 39
10 Virton[lower-alpha 5] 30 11 4 15 40 45 −5 37
11 Dender EH 30 9 9 12 39 52 −13 36
12 Oosterzonen 30 9 7 14 39 47 −8 34
13 Châtelet 30 6 11 13 34 53 −19 29
14 Hamme[lower-alpha 6] (R) 30 8 4 18 32 59 −27 28 Qualification for the Second Amateur Division Promotion play-offs Final
15 Berchem (R) 30 6 7 17 34 53 −19 25 Relegation to the Second Amateur Division
16 Patro Eisden Maasmechelen[lower-alpha 7] (R) 30 3 5 22 18 79 −61 14
Source: Belgian First Division A (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goals scored; 6) Away matches won.[3]
(R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. On 13 February a questionnaire revealed that only four clubs had requested a license to play in the Belgian First Division B: Deinze, Dessel, Lommel and Seraing.[1]
  2. On 13 February a questionnaire revealed that only four clubs had requested a license to play in the Belgian First Division B: Deinze, Dessel, Lommel and Seraing.[1] Dessel eventually did not receive the license as their stadium was deemed insufficient, they are thus ineligible for promotion.[2]
  3. On 13 February a questionnaire revealed that only four clubs had requested a license to play in the Belgian First Division B: Deinze, Dessel, Lommel and Seraing.[1] Deinze eventually withdrew their application for a license and are ineligible for promotion.[2]
  4. On 13 February a questionnaire revealed that only four clubs had requested a license to play in the Belgian First Division B: Deinze, Dessel, Lommel and Seraing.[1]
  5. Virton was initially refused a license for the First Amateur Division, but received it after appeal. Virton would have been relegated irrespective of their finishing position if their appeal had been denied, as they would then be placed in last place irrespective of the number of points obtained.
  6. Due to the bankruptcy of Lierse in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B, one less team needed to relegate from the Belgian First Amateur Division, as a result, 13th placed Châtelet was saved and Hamme was not automatically relegated but rather given a chance to avoid relegation through the Promotion play-offs Final.
  7. Patro Eisden Maasmechelen did not request a license for the First Amateur Division and would have been relegated irrespective of its finishing position.

Results
Home \ Away AAL BER CHA DEI DEN DES GEE HAM HEI KNO LOM OOS OUD PAT SER VIR
Aalst — 1–0 1–2 0–1 1–3 1–1 1–0 3–4 1–1 1–1 0–3 3–4 1–0 2–0 4–2 2–1
Berchem 3–3 — 3–0 1–1 1–2 3–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–0 4–1 0–2 3–1 0–2 2–0
Châtelet 0–3 1–0 — 2–1 1–2 2–2 2–2 2–0 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 2–2
Deinze 1–2 1–1 2–2 — 1–2 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 4–0 2–0 2–3 0–3
Dender EH 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 — 0–1 2–2 3–1 4–1 1–3 0–2 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 0–2
Dessel 2–1 3–0 1–1 3–1 1–0 — 3–1 3–0 3–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 6–1 3–2 1–0
ASV Geel 0–1 3–0 4–0 1–3 3–3 2–0 — 2–1 1–3 1–3 3–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–5 1–1
Hamme 2–4 3–2 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–3 3–1 — 0–3 0–3 0–3 1–2 1–2 2–0 1–2 0–0
Heist 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 1–0 — 2–1 2–4 4–1 0–3 6–0 1–1 1–1
Knokke 1–2 4–2 6–3 2–2 5–0 3–2 4–0 0–0 3–1 — 1–4 4–1 4–0 1–1 3–2 4–0
Lommel 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–2 4–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 5–0 1–1 — 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 6–0
Oosterzonen 3–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 4–0 1–1 3–0 2–2 0–1 0–2 1–3 — 2–2 3–0 0–1 2–3
Oudenaarde 4–0 3–1 3–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 6–1 0–1 3–3 1–2 0–1 1–0 — 4–0 2–0 3–0
Patro Eisden Maasmechelen 0–4 2–1 3–3 1–2 2–1 1–3 0–4 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–5 0–3 1–1 — 1–0 0–2
Seraing 1–0 1–1 6–2 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 5–0 — 2–0
Virton 1–2 3–0 1–0 0–3 0–1 1–2 0–2 5–0 1–2 1–3 2–1 4–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 —
Source: Nationaal : 1st klasse (in Dutch)
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    Promotion play-offs

    The teams finishing in the top four positions entered the promotion play-offs. The points obtained during the regular season were halved (and rounded up) before the start of the playoff, as a result, Knokke started with 36 points, Lommel with 31 points, Dessel with 30 points and Deinze with 25 points. As Lommel were the only team which obtained a licence and qualified for the promotion play-offs, they were already certain of promotion even before the start of the playoffs.

    Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KNO LOM DES DEI
    1 Knokke (C) 6 5 1 0 15 4 +11 47 — 4–0 2–1 4–1
    2 Lommel[lower-alpha 1] (P) 6 3 1 2 9 7 +2 46 Promotion to the 2018–19 Belgian First Division B 0–0 — 3–0 2–0
    3 Dessel Sport 6 1 2 3 5 9 −4 35 1–2 2–1 — 1–1
    4 Deinze 6 0 2 4 4 13 −9 27 1–3 1–3 0–0 —
    Source: Belgian First Amateur Division, Soccerway
    Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Matches won; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Away matches won; 8) Play-off.[4]
    (C) Champion; (P) Promoted.
    Notes:
    1. Before the start of the playoffs, Lommel was already certain of promotion as the other three teams in the promotion-playoffs had either not requested or not received a license to play in the Belgian First Division B.

    Number of teams by provinces
    Number of teams Province Team(s)
    5  AntwerpBerchem, Dessel, Geel, Heist and Oosterzonen Oosterwijk
     East FlandersAalst, Dender EH, Deinze, Hamme and Oudenaarde
    2  LimburgLommel and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen
    1  LiègeSeraing
     LuxembourgVirton
     HainautChâtelet
     West FlandersKnokke

    References
    1. "Slechts vier amateurclubs vragen een licentie aan voor 1B" [Only four amateur teams request license for first division B] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
    2. "Eersteklassers krijgen licentie, Lierse niet" [First division teams receive license, Lierse does not] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
    3. "First Division A 2017/2018 - Season rules". vbal4. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
    4. "Pro League 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
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