Belgian Second Division

The Belgian Second Division, also known as EXQI League (it is sponsored by commercial broadcaster Euro1080, who have a culture channel called EXQI), is the second-highest division in Belgian football. It was created in 1905.

The competition

The season comprises the regular season (18 teams, 34 matchdays) and the play-offs (4 teams, 6 matchdays: see Belgian Second Division Final Round).

The regular season is a double round-robin tournament played between August and May, with an interruption of 3 weeks in the winter. It is divided into three blocks: the first 10 rounds of matches, the next 12, and the final 12. The winner of the overall regular season is promoted to the first division. The teams with the best record in each of the 3 blocks go into the play-offs, together with the second-last team in the first division. The play-offs are also a double round-robin, with the winner earning a place in the first division.

The standings, for both the regular season and the 3 blocks, are determined by the following criteria, in order:
# number of points;
# number of wins;
# goal average;
# a play-off at a neutral venue (with extra time and penalty shootout if necessary)

A team cannot play in the first division unless it has a professional license. If it does not have its license, it is replaced if possible, by the next highest team in the overall regular seaon rankings. For the automatic promotion spot (as opposed to the play-offs) the team must have finished in the top three clubs. When no team meets those conditions, the number of teams in the first division decreases.

The two lowest-placed teams go to the third division (which is divided into 2 leagues of 16 clubs), while the two champions of that division are promoted to the second division. Furthermore, the 16th-placed team plays the third division playoff with 6 teams from the third division but it enters the competition on its second round. The winner of this playoff stays or promotes to second division.

History

The second division was created in 1905 as the "Promotion". From 1923 on there were two leagues in that division (called "Promotion A" and "Promotion B"). In 1926, the system changed with only one league (14 clubs) at the second-highest level now called "Division I". At the end of the 1930-31 season, the Division I was split into two leagues (of 14 clubs each). The last two teams of each league were relegated and the two top clubs promoted each year to the Premier Division. In 1952, the division was renamed to "Division II" with 16 teams (one league). The first two clubs qualified for the first division. In 1974, the first final round was played to access the top level. Finally, in 1994, the second division was played between 18 clubs. A win earns three points since the 1993-94 season.

The 2008-09 clubs

The 19 participating clubs for the 2008-09 season are the following:

References

*de icon en icon fr icon nl icon [http://www.footbel.be The Belgian Football Association official website]
*fr icon [http://www.sport.be/fr/football/lagere/fixture.html?comp=2081 Sport.be website] - Standings, features, results, statistitcs and news from the second division
*en icon [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesb/belghist.html RSSSF archive] - Second division tables from 1910 to 2002
*nl icon [http://www.tweedeklasse.be Tweedeklasse.be] - All info about the Belgian 2nd division