1997–98 Belgian First Division
95th season of top-tier football in Belgium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1997–98 season of the Jupiler League was held between 8 August 1997 and 10 May 1998. Club Brugge became champions.
| Season | 1997–1998 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8 August 1997 - 10 May 1998 |
| Champions | Club Brugge |
| Runner up | K.R.C. Genk |
| Relegated | RWDM Antwerp |
| Champions League | Club Brugge |
| Cup Winners' Cup | Racing Genk |
| UEFA Cup | Beerschot AC Anderlecht |
| Intertoto Cup | RC Harelbeke Lommel |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 904 (2.95 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Branko Strupar (22) |
← 1996–97 1998-99 → | |
Promoted teams
These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the season:
Relegated teams
Brugge's title success
Club Brugge ended in first place 18 points ahead of Racing Genk.
Battle for Europe
Sporting Anderlecht finally qualified for the UEFA Cup by ending in 4th place as Genk (2nd) and Brugge (1st) played the Cup final. The third team to qualify for the UEFA Cup was Germinal Ekeren (3rd).
The relegation dog fight
Final league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Club Brugge | 34 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 78 | 29 | +49 | 84 | Qualified for 1998–99 UEFA Champions League[a] |
| 2 | K.R.C. Genk | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 65 | 40 | +25 | 66 | Qualified for 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup |
| 3 | K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 58 | Qualified for 1998–99 UEFA Cup |
| 4 | R.S.C. Anderlecht | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 53 | 37 | +16 | 57 | |
| 5 | Racing Club Harelbeke | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 50 | 31 | +19 | 55 | Qualified for 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| 6 | K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen | 34 | 16 | 4 | 14 | 68 | 68 | 0 | 52 | |
| 7 | Lierse S.K. | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 45 | +9 | 50 | |
| 8 | K.A.A. Gent | 34 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 47 | |
| 9 | Standard Liège | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 53 | 50 | +3 | 43 | |
| 10 | R.E. Mouscron | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 41 | |
| 11 | K.F.C. Lommel S.K. | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 41 | Qualified for 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| 12 | K.V.C. Westerlo | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 52 | 56 | −4 | 41 | |
| 13 | R. Charleroi S.C. | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 39 | |
| 14 | K. Sint-Truidense V.V. | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 37 | |
| 15 | K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 51 | 66 | −15 | 36 | |
| 16 | K.S.K. Beveren | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 32 | |
| 17 | R.W.D. Molenbeek | 34 | 8 | 7 | 19 | 39 | 74 | −35 | 31 | Relegated to Division II |
| 18 | R. Antwerp F.C. | 34 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 38 | 71 | −33 | 25 |
- Club Brugge competed in the UEFA Cup after losing their Champions League Second Qualifying Round tie.
Results
Top goal scorers
| Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Racing Genk | |
| 19 | Germinal Ekeren | |
| 15 | Eendracht Aalst | |
| 15 | Germinal Ekeren | |
| 14 | Racing Genk |
Attendances
| No. | Club | Average attendance | Change | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anderlecht | 21,353 | 10,3% | 28,161 |
| 2 | Club Brugge | 12,706 | -3,4% | 16,000 |
| 3 | Standard de Liège | 12,088 | -2,1% | 20,000 |
| 4 | Genk | 10,629 | 20,1% | 17,000 |
| 5 | Lierse | 8,118 | -5,8% | 14,000 |
| 6 | Mouscron | 7,476 | -4,1% | 9,000 |
| 7 | STVV | 7,382 | -11,0% | 13,500 |
| 8 | Gent | 7,294 | -0,9% | 16,000 |
| 9 | Eendracht Aalst | 6,982 | 4,5% | 9,000 |
| 10 | Lommel | 6,529 | -5,1% | 12,500 |
| 11 | Westerlo | 6,312 | 109,2% | 10,500 |
| 12 | Charleroi | 6,088 | 4,3% | 14,000 |
| 13 | Beveren | 5,512 | 71,9% | 9,000 |
| 14 | Lokeren | 5,265 | -9,6% | 13,000 |
| 15 | Harelbeke | 5,176 | -3,3% | 9,000 |
| 16 | Germinal Beerschot | 4,912 | 16,8% | 8,000 |
| 17 | Molenbeek | 4,647 | -15,1% | 8,000 |
| 18 | Antwerp | 3,941 | -38,5% | 7,000 |
Source:[1]
See also
- 1997–98 in Belgian football