Soccer Betting - Belgium Jupiler League
Belgium Jupiler League Odds ►►
History - Facts - Teams - Winners
History
As well as in other European countries, football practice in Belgium started by following the example from British companies and traditional English colleges established in the country around the 1860's.
The sport was officially played at a profesional level in Belgium until the end of the XIX century. After the 'Union Belge des Sociétés de Sports Athlétiques' was founded in September 1895 with 10 sports houses, which included a football group among their sport disciplines. From the ten clubs only 7 went to the first league championship named the Coupe de Championnat played in 1895-1896.
The winner of the first Coupe was FC Liégeois with 20 points, they were one of the domaining teams in the following years. The other six teams were Antwerp FC, Sporting Club de Bruxelles, Léopold Club de Bruxelles, Racing Club de Bruxelles, FC Brugeois and Union FC d'Ixelles; the last two mentioned finished in the bottom of the final table and at the end of the season left the tournament eventhough a relegation/promotion classification was not being used. Instead of two new teams, only one went in for the next season: Athl. & Running Club de Bruxelles.
For 1898/99 the league divided the clubs in 2 groups. Group A was composed by the 5 teams from the previous tournament, which represented Brussels, Antwerp and Liége areas. The Group B had 4 clubs from Flemish Region: FC Brugeois, CS Bruges, RC Gantois and FC Courtraisien. The winners from both groups will play in two final games to define the champion.
In 1900/01the system changed back to one division that included 9 teams, but for the next season was split again, but this time the title was fought in a Final Four tour. The tournament was renamed Division I in 1904/05 and next season turned into a first division league of 10 clubs with relegation to a second division named Promotion, the system (relegation/promotion) is still in use.
Over the years the number of teams in the first league has taken a roller coaster ride, growing from 12 in 1908, to 19 in 1945, then falling to 16 in 1947 and going throught a last hill between 1974/75 with 20 and finishing with 18 in 1976/77, number that apparently will maintain until the end of 2008/09, when it will be reduce once more to 16 clubs.
The name of the championship has also suffered a couple of modifications over history. First change was to Premier Division or Division d'Honneur (1926/27), which was changed back to Division I in 1952/53 with a complete restructure of the different league divisions. The league is still known as Belgian First Division but it is popularly called Jupiler Pro League, due to their sponsor Jupiler beer.