Belgian League and Beker van Belgie winners

Notes on name changes and mergers

League format changes

Between 1896-98 the Coupe de Championnat was played as a single championship league.
Between 1899-1900 two area divisions played, the division winners playing a two leg final for the championship.
In 1901 the league reverted to a single championship division again.
Between 1902-04 two area divisions played, with top teams playing a single championship division.
From 1905 onwards one championship division has been played.

•  1: FC Liégeois changed their name to RFC Liégeois (Royal Football Club Liégeois) in 1920 and in 1989 to RFC de Liège. Stay with me there's more! In 1991 they changed to Royal Club Liégeois and then in 1995 after a merger with Royal FC Tilleur - Saint Nicolas to Royal Tilleur FC de Liège. Finally (I hope) in 2000 they changed name to RFC de Liège.
•  2: CS Brugeois (Cercle Sportif Brugeois) were renamed RCS Brugeois (Royal Cercle Sportif Brugeois) in 1924 and then KSV Cercle Brugge in 1968.
•  3: Daring CB (Daring Club de Bruxelles) were renamed Daring Club de Bruxelles SR (Daring Club de Bruxelles Societe Royale) in 1920. In 1950 they changed name to Royal Daring Club de Bruxelles, in 1970 to Royal Daring Club Molenbeek and in 1973 to Racing White Daring Molenbeek
•  4: FC Brugeois (Football Club Brugeois) were renamed FC Brugge (Football Club Brugge) in 1920 and then Club Brugge KV in 1972.
•  5: Beerschot AC were renamed Royal Beerschot AC (Royal Beerschot Athletic Club) in 1925 and K. Beerschot VAV (K. Beerschot Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging) in 1968.
•  6: K Liersche SK (Koninklijke Liersche SK) were renamed K Lierse SK (Koninklijke Lierse SK) in 1947. In 1972 K Lyra (Koninklijke Lyra) were merged with them to become K Lierse SV (Koninklijke Lierse SV) and then renamed K Lierse SK (Koninklijke Lierse SK) again in 1982.
•  7: RSC Anderlechtois changed their name to RSC Anderlecht in 1984.
•  8: RFC Malinois (Royal Football Club Malinois) were renamed KFC Malinois (Koninklijke Football Club Malinois) in 1952 and renamed again to KV Mechelen (Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen) in 1970.
•  9: Royal Standard Club Liégeois changed their name to Royal Standard de Liège in 1972.
• 10: ARA La Gantoise (Association Royale Athlétique La Gantoise) changed their name in 1971 to KAA Gent (Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent).
• 11: K Waterschei SV Thor (Koninklijke Waterschei Sportvereniging Thor) were renamed K Waterschei SV Thor Genk in 1962. They were then merged with KFC Winterslag to become KRC Genk (Racing Genk) in 1988.
• 12: K Beerschot VAC were merged with KFC Germinal Ekeren in 1999 to become Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. They changed their name to Germinal Beerschot in 2003.
• 13: The league format was changed for the 2009/10 season. Once the regular season had finished, the top six went into a 10 game play-off for the championship. The play-off league comprised of points gained during the normal season divided by 2, added to the points gained for the 10 game play-off league. The goal difference was not carried over.

Research

To be honest it normally takes a couple of days to complete the research on one country, but this one has taken ages! I usually consult the countries FA site, but Belgium's is not good at all, followed by the clubs site. The fact that a lot of clubs have Dutch and French name changes didn't help either. I would sincerley like to thank the History of Soccer fansite that has gone to the trouble of listing all the various mergers and name changes over the years. RFC de Liège being a classic case, if I had their history of name changes I'd have a website that explained it ... they don't!
With 3 different languages (4 if you include Romansh) I won't be taking on the Swiss league any time soon!

I've cross referenced as much as possible and added links to the new club website where possible. Many thanks goes to the RSSSF Archive, which was an invaluable source of information whenever an insolvable fact was needed. If you need to find a football answer, it will be on there somewhere.