1973–74 in Belgian football

The 1973–74 season was the 71st season of competitive football in Belgium. RSC Anderlechtois won their 16th Division I title.[1] KSV Waregem won the Belgian Cup against second division club KSK Tongeren (4-1).[2] The Belgium national football team finished their 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign at the second place of their group behind the Netherlands, with the same number of points but a smaller goal difference.[3] They thus did not qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup finals in West Germany. The Belgian Women's First Division was won by R Saint-Nicolas FC Liège.

Overview

Belgium continued their qualifying campaign for the 1974 FIFA World Cup with a win over Norway and a draw against the Netherlands. They thus finished the qualifications with 10 points, level with the Netherlands. However, since the Netherlands had scored 24 goals for only 2 goals conceded, and Belgium had scored 12 goals (for 0 goals conceded), the Netherlands qualified for the World Cup finals instead of Belgium.

At the end of the season, the number of teams in Division I was increased from 16 to 20, and the Royal Belgian Football Association introduced the Belgian Second Division Final Round, a double round-robin tournament contested by 4 teams, the top 2 of which would qualify for the next season Division I. The bottom 2 teams of Division I (K Lierse SK and K Sint-Truidense VV) as well as the 4th and 5th-placed teams in Division II (KAS Eupen and KFC Winterslag) were invited to play this final round.[4] K Lierse SK and KFC Winterslag finished respectively 1st and 2nd and qualified for the Division I, together with the top 3 teams in Division II (ROC de Montignies-sur-Sambre, ASV Oostende KM and KSC Lokeren) as well as R Charleroi SC (13th-placed team). The bottom 2 teams of the final round were relegated to Division II (K Sint-Truidense VV and KAS Eupen).

The last club in Division II (KAA Gent) was relegated to Division III, to be replaced by both Division III winners and runners-up as well as one of the two 3rd-placed teams (K Waterschei SV Thor Genk, VG Oostende, R Tilleur FC, R Albert Elisabeth Club Mons and RAA Louviéroise).
The bottom club of each Division III league (AS Herstalienne, RCS Verviétois, R Dinant FC and RCS La Forestoise) were relegated to the Promotion, to be replaced by the winner and runner-up of each Promotion league (K Stade Leuven, VC Rotselaar, CS Andennais, RJS Bas-Oha, KAV Dendermonde, K Willebroekse SV, K Zonhoven VV and KFC Verbroedering Geel).

National team
Date Venue Opponents Score[5] Comp Belgium scorers
October 31, 1973 Stade Emile Versé, Brussels (H) Norway 2-0 WCQ Léon Dolmans, Raoul Lambert
November 18, 1973 Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam (A) Netherlands 0-0 WCQ
March 13, 1974 Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, Berlin (A) East Germany 0-1 F
April 17, 1974 Stade de Sclessin, Liège (H) Poland 1-1 F Wilfried Van Moer
May 1, 1974 Charmilles Stadium, Genève (A) Switzerland 1-0 F
June 1, 1974 Klokke Stadion, Bruges (H) Scotland 2-1 F Roger Henrotay, Raoul Lambert

Key

  • H = Home match
  • A = Away match
  • N = On neutral ground
  • F = Friendly
  • WCQ = World Cup qualification
  • o.g. = own goal

European competitions

Club Brugge KV beat Floriana FC of Malta in the first round of the 1973–74 European Champion Clubs' Cup (won 8-0 at home, 2-0 away) but lost in the second round to FC Basel of Switzerland (won 2-1 at home, lost 4-6 away).

RSC Anderlechtois lost in the first round of the 1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup to FC Zürich of Switzerland on away goals (won 3-2 at home, lost 0-1 away).

The following clubs qualified to play the 1973–74 UEFA Cup: Standard Club Liégeois (2nd-placed in the championship), R White Daring Molenbeek (3rd) and K Beerschot VAV (4th).
In the first round, Standard beat Ards FC of Northern Ireland (lost 2-3 away, won 6-1 at home) and RWDM beat RCD Espanyol of Spain (won 3-0 away, lost 1-2 at home), but K Beerschot VAV lost to Vitoria FC of Portugal (lost both legs 0-2).
In the second round, Standard beat Universitatea Craiova of Romania (won 2-0 at home, drew 1-1 away) but RWDM lost to Vitoria FC on away goals (lost 0-1 away, won 2-1 at home).
Standard were finally eliminated by Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Netherlands in the third round on away goals (won 3-1 at home, lost 0-2 away).

Honours
Competition Winner
Division I RSC Anderlechtois
Cup KSV Waregem
Women Division I R Saint-Nicolas FC Liège
Division II ROC de Montignies-sur-Sambre
Division III K Waterschei SV Thor Genk and VG Oostende
Promotion K Stade Leuven, CS Andennais, KAV Dendermonde and K Zonhoven VV

Final league tables

Division I
Main article: 1973–74 Belgian First Division

References
  1. http://www.footbel.com/documents/COMPETITIES/Eindklassementen/S1973-1974FR.pdf Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine FA website
  2. http://www.footbel.com/fr/Competitites/statistieken/bekerfinales/heren_2.html%5B%5D FA Website
  3. http://www.footbel.com/fr/nationale_elftallen/statistieken_1/per_datum.html Archived 2011-01-18 at the Wayback Machine FA website
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2010-10-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) RSSSF Archive
  5. Belgium score given first
  6. http://www.footbel.com/fr/Competitites/statistieken/topschutters.html Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine FA Website
  7. http://www.footbel.com/fr/Competitites/statistieken/gouden_schoen.html Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine FA Website
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