2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division

The 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division is the second season of the division in its current format, placed at the fourth-tier of football in Belgium.

Belgian Second Amateur Division
Season2017–18
ChampionsRupel Boom, Tessenderlo and RWDM
PromotedRupel Boom, Tessenderlo, RWDM and RFC Liège
RelegatedBornem, Pepingen-Halle, Sint-Lenaarts, Tienen, Torhout, Zwarte Leeuw, La Calamine, Sprimont Comblain and WS Brussels

The division consists of three separate leagues, each containing 16 teams. Leagues A and B consist of teams with a license from the Voetbalfederatie Vlaanderen (VFV, the Dutch speaking wing of the Belgian FA), while league C contains teams with a license from the Association des Clubs Francophones de Football (ACFF, the French speaking wing of the RBFA). The champions from each of the three leagues will promote to the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division. The fixtures will be announced in July 2017.

Team changes

In

Out

Mergers

Belgian Second Amateur Division A

Locations of the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division A teams

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Rupel Boom (P)3019477449+2561Promotion to the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division
2Mandel United3018395933+2657Qualification for the Promotion play-offs VFV[a]
3Sint-Eloois-Winkel3016776041+1955
4Petegem3015876440+2453
5Westhoek30163116156+551
6Sint-Niklaas30155105543+1250
7Temse30146105142+948
8Harelbeke30127114542+343
9Brakel30118114149−841
10Gullegem30124145152−140
11Gent-Zeehaven30121174759−1237
12Londerzeel30106145551+436
13Ronse30712113344−1133
14Pepingen-Halle (R)3077163056−2628Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15Torhout (R)3075183667−3126Relegation to the 2018–19 Belgian Third Amateur Division
16Bornem (R)3052232866−3817
Source: vbal4
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[1]
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Belgian Second Amateur Division B

Duffel
Hades
Overijse
City Pirates
Sint-Lenaarts
Vosselaar
Locations of the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division B teams

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1Tessenderlo (P)3020556330+3365Promotion to the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division
2Bocholt3017675742+1557
3Spouwen-Mopertingen30141065646+1052
4City Pirates3013895244+847
5Wijgmaal30144125349+446
6Vosselaar30111184935+1444
7Hades30134134642+443
8Overijse30125133951−1241
9Cappellen30118114337+641
10Duffel30117124646040
11Turnhout3081393034−437
12Hoogstraten30106143947−836
13Hasselt30105153445−1135Qualification for the Promotion play-offs VFV[a]
14Zwarte Leeuw (R)30612124347−430Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15Tienen (R)3084183961−2228Relegation to the 2018–19 Belgian Third Amateur Division
16Sint-Lenaarts (R)3064203366−3322
Source: vbal4
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[2]
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Belgian Second Amateur Division C

Ciney
Acren Lessines
Hamoir
Union La Calamine
Solières
Waremme
Durbuy
Sprimont Comblain
Locations of the 2017–18 Belgian Second Amateur Division C teams

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification or relegation
1RWDM (P)2825128419+6576Promotion to the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division
2RFC Liège (P)2821346830+3866Qualification for the Promotion play-offs ACFF[a]
3Olympic Charleroi2816665337+1654
4Durbuy2813694037+345
5Hamoir28135104443+144
6La Louvière Centre28126103843−542Qualification for the Promotion play-offs ACFF[a]
7Walhain2891093844−637
8Waremme28115124846+238
9Acren-Lessines2897124446−234
10Solières2898113741−435
11Meux2887134855−731
12Rebecq2887134151−1031
13Ciney[b]2859143548−1324
14Sprimont Comblain (R)2853202962−3318Relegation to the 2018–19 Belgian Third Amateur Division
15La Calamine (R)2833222570−4512
16WS Brussels[c] (R)00000000
Source: vbal4
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[4]
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Promotion play-offs

Promotion play-offs VFV

The teams finishing in second place in the Second Amateur Division A and Second Amateur Division B will take part in a promotion playoff first round together with three period winners from both divisions. These 8 teams from the VFV will play the first round of a promotion-playoff, with two teams qualifying for the Promotion play-offs Final. In division A, the first period was won by Petegem, the second by Mandel United and the third by champions Rupel Boom. In division B, champions Tessenderlo won all three periods.

In division A, only Mandel United and Sint-Eloois-Winkel received a license, meaning there were only two participants from this division instead of four. In division B, only Hasselt applied for a license in spite of finishing just 5 points clear of the relegation zone. The three other spots remained vacant. Overall this meant only three out of eight teams took part, with two teams qualifying for the Promotion play-offs Final. As a result of the draw, Sint-Eloois-Winkel received a bye and directly qualified for the play-offs Final.

Mandel United4–0Hasselt
Lorthiois
Beyens
report
Gemeentelijk stadion, Ingelmunster

The winner of this match will qualify for the Promotion play-offs Final together with Sint-Eloois-Winkel.

Promotion play-offs ACFF

The team finishing in second place in the Second Amateur Division C will take part in the promotion playoff first round together with three period winners. These 4 teams will play the first round of a promotion-playoff, with the winner qualifying for the Promotion play-offs Final. While champions RWDM47 won all three periods which would meant the teams in positions 2 through 5 would take part in the playoffs, only three teams effectively received a license with the fourth place remaining vacant.

ACFF Round 1

As a result of the draw, La Louvière-Centre received a bye into round 2.

RFC Liège2–1 (a.e.t.)Olympic Charleroi
Kenne 58'
Electeur  105'
Vandebon 108' (pen.)
Kalincik  73'   80'
Sidibé 90+3'
Palmeri  49'   100'
Stade de Rocourt, Liège

ACFF Round 2

RFC Liège1–0La Louvière Centre
Vandebon 81'Report
Stade de Rocourt, Liège

RFC Liège qualified for the Promotion play-offs Final.

Promotion play-offs Final

The two winners of the Promotion play-offs on the VFV side (Mandel United and Sint-Eloois-Winkel) and the winning team from the ACFF Promotion play-offs (RFC Liège) will play a final tournament together with the team that finished in 14th place in the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division (Hamme). The winner of this play-off promotes to (or remains in) the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division.

Final Round 1

Mandel United0–2RFC Liège
ReportJiyar 59'
Winandts 85'
Gemeentelijk stadion, Ingelmunster
RFC Liège1–0Mandel United
Dethier 86'Report
Stade de Rocourt, Liège

Hamme2–1Sint-Eloois-Winkel
Dekuyper
D'Haeseleer
Sint-Eloois-Winkel1–1Hamme
Lutun 55'ReportClaeys 90'

RFC Liège and Hamme qualified for the Promotion play-offs Final. Mandel United and Sint-Eloois-Winkel are eliminated and remain in the Belgian Second Amateur Division.

Final Round 2

Hamme2–4RFC Liège
Audin 3'
De Wilde 34'
Teruel 41'
Dethier 56'
Mombongo-Dues 75'
Electeur 81'
RFC Liège2–1Hamme
Mombongo-Dues 1'
Electeur 47'
Mariën 15'
Stade de Rocourt, Liège

RFC Liège won 6–3 on aggregate and as a result was promoted to the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division. By losing, Hamme was relegated from the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division to the 2018–19 Belgian Second Amateur Division.

Relegation play-offs

The number of teams relegating from the Belgian Amateur Second Division depends on the number of teams of each wing (VFV and ACFF) relegating from the Belgian First Amateur Division.

In case the three automatic relegation spots in the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division are filled by:

Additionally, in case the team from the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division taking part in the Promotion play-offs Final belongs to a different wing than the winner of the Promotion play-offs Final, then an additional team would be relegated of the same wing as the relegating team from the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division.

As of the end of the regular competition, the number of extra relegations for the VFV would be zero, one or two, while for ACFF it would be zero or one.

Relegation play-offs VFV

The teams finishing 14th in divisions A and B play each other in a single match to avoid relegation.

Pepingen-Halle3–1Zwarte Leeuw
Miceli
Ngadrira 44'
Morais De Almeida 85'
ReportVanderheyden 66'

At the time of the match, it was yet uncertain how many teams from each wing would be relegated. In the end, with the relegations of Hamme, Berchem Sport and Patro Eisden Maasmechelen from the 2017–18 Belgian First Amateur Division and the addition bankruptcy of Lierse (playing in the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B), which are all VFV teams, both Zwarte Leeuw and Pepingen-Halle were eventually relegated.

Relegation play-offs ACFF

As there is only one division no playoff is organised. In case extra relegations were necessary, the teams finishing just above the relegation zone would have been relegated, starting from the bottom. With one possible extra relegation, Ciney needed to await the result of the Promotion play-offs but was eventually spared of relegation.

References