1973–74 in Belgian football
# 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. KSV Waregem won the Belgian Cup against second division club KSK Tongeren (4-1). 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. 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. 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 | 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

* 1973-74 Top scorer: Hungarian Attila Ladynski (RSC Anderlechtois) with 22 goals
* 1973 Golden Shoe: Maurice Martens (RR White - R White Daring Molenbeek)
