1975-76 in Belgian football

1975–76 in Belgian football

The 1975–1976 season was the 73rd season of competitive football in Belgium. Club Brugge KV won their third Division I title. RSC Anderlechtois won the Belgian Cup against K Lierse SK (4-0) and they won the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup, while Club Brugge KV reached the final of the 1975–76 UEFA Cup. The Belgium national football team ended their UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying campaign with a defeat against The Netherlands in the second round, after they finished first of their group in the first round. The Belgian Women's First Division was won by for the second time. For the first time, the Belgian Golden Shoe was awarded to a stranger, Dutch international player Johan Boskamp.

Overview

Belgium continued the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifications in Group 7 with a win over Iceland, a defeat against East Germany and a draw against France. They finished on top of Group 7 with 8 points, 1 point ahead of East Germany, and thus qualified for the second qualifying round. This play-off was played against The Netherlands, and Belgium lost the first game with 5-0 (with 3 goals by RSC Anderlechtois striker Rob Rensenbrink), after what the Belgium manager Raymond Goethals was sacked and replaced by Guy Thijs for the second leg. In the second leg, Belgium also lost (1-2), with goals by Johnny Rep and legendary player Johan Cruyff for The Netherlands. This game marked the start of a new generation of Belgian players, with goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff playing his first game for Belgium in place of Christian Piot. Other experienced players Raoul Lambert and Jan Verheyen were also not selected for this match. Paul Van Himst had stopped his international career at the end of the previous season. New players would emerge this season with the Red Devils, like defenders Georges Leekens, Hugo Broos and Eric Gerets and midfielders Ludo Coeck and François Van Der Elst.

At the end of the season, the number of teams in Division I was decreased from 19 to 18, so the bottom 2 teams in Division I (K Berchem Sport and KRC Mechelen) as well as RAA Louviéroise (14th) were relegated to the Division II. The Division II champion (KFC Winterslag) as well as the Belgian Second Division Final Round winner (KV Kortrijk) were promoted to the Division I. The bottom 3 teams in Division II (R Albert Elisabeth Club Mons, R Tilleur FC and ) were relegated to Division III while both Division III winners (Royale Union and KAS Eupen) qualified for the Division II. The bottom 2 clubs of each Division III league (K Stade Leuven, RRC Tournaisien, and ) were relegated to the Promotion, together with the 14th-placed team with the less points (). The winner of each Promotion league was promoted to the Division III: , , and .

National team

Key

European competitions

R White Daring Molenbeek beat Viking FK of Norway in the first round of the 1975–76 European Champion Clubs' Cup (wins 3-2 at home and 0-1 away). In the second round, they lost to HNK Hajduk Split of Yugoslavia (defeats 4-0 away and 2-3 at home).

RSC Anderlechtois eliminated FC Rapid Bucureşti of Romania in the first round of the 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup (defeat 1-0 away and win 2-0 at home). Then, they eliminated FK Borac Banja Luka of Yugoslavia (win 3-0 at home and defeat 1-0 away), Wrexham FC of Wales (win 1-0 at home and draw 1-1 away) and BSG Sachsenring Zwickau of East Germany (wins 0-3 away and 2-0 at home) to reach the final of a European competition for the second time. In the final, they won against West Ham United (4-2) and so became the first Belgian club to win a European competition.

The following clubs qualified to play the 1975–76 UEFA Cup: R Antwerp FC (2nd-placed in the championship) and Club Brugge KV (4th behind Cup winner RSC Anderlechtois). In the first round, Antwerp beat Aston Villa FC (wins 4-1 at home and win 0-1 away) while Club Brugge KV beat Olympique Lyonnais of France (defeat 4-3 away and win 3-0 at home). In the second round, Antwerp was eliminated by Slask Wroclaw of Poland (draw 1-1 away and loss 1-2 at home) but Club Brugge went on by beating Ipswich Town FC (defeat 3-0 away and win 4-0 at home). Club Brugge then eliminated AS Roma of Italy in the third round (wins 1-0 at home and 0-1 away), Milan AC of Italy in the quarter-finals (win 2-0 at home and defeat 2-1 away) and Hamburger SV of West Germany in the semifinals (draw 1-1 away and win 1-0 at home). For the first time in their history, Club Brugge reached the final of a European competition. They lost to Liverpool FC (defeat 3-2 away and draw 1-1 at home).

Honours

Final league tables

Division I

References

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