The 1972–73 season was the 70th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Club Brugge KV (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional Association football, football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capac ...

won their second Division I title, 53 years after their first title in 1919–20. RSC Anderlechtois won the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

against Standard Club Liégeois (2-1). The

Belgium national football team The Belgium national football team has represented Belgium in men's international Association football, football since Évence Coppée Trophy, their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in E ...

continued their 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with a win in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and a draw at home against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The

Belgian Women's First Division The Belgian Women's First National Division, formerly Belgian Women's First Division is the second highest women's football league of Belgium. The league was the top level league until 2011–12. It was first played in 1973–74. From 2012 to 20 ...

was won for the second time by Astrio Begijnendijk.

Overview

Belgium continued their qualifying campaign for the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

with a win over

and a draw against the

. At the end of the season, Belgium was first of Group 3 with 7 points in 4 matches, ahead of the Netherlands (3 points in 2 matches), Norway (2 points in 3 matches) and Iceland (0 points in 3 matches). At the end of the season, RU Saint-Gilloise and R Crossing Club de Schaerbeek were relegated to Division II, to be replaced by SK Beveren-Waas and KSV Waregem from Division II.
The bottom 2 clubs in Division II ( R Tilleur FC and RAA Louviéroise) were relegated to Division III, to be replaced by K Olse Merksem SC and ASV Oostende KM from Division III.
The bottom club of each Division III league ( RFC Sérésien, R Herve FC, FC Vigor Wuitens Hamme and RRC Gent) were relegated to Promotion, to be replaced by AS Herstalienne, KFC Eendracht Zele, K Alt-Hoeselt VV and FC Denderleeuw from Promotion.

National team

Key * H = Home match * A = Away match * N = On neutral ground * F = Friendly * WCQ = World Cup qualification * o.g. = own goal

European competitions

RSC Anderlechtois beat

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in the first round of the 1972–73 European Champion Clubs' Cup (won 4–2 at home, 3–0 away) but lost in the second round to

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Football in Slovakia#System, Slovak league system, hav ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(lost both legs 0-1). Standard Club Liégeois entered the

1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Milan after a 1–0 victory against Leeds United at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece. Competition holders Rangers would have been eligible to compete in th ...

as Cup finalist, since the Cup winner RSC Anderlechtois was also qualified for the Champion Clubs' Cup. They were defeated in the first round by

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

of Czechoslovakia (won 1–0 at home, lost 2–4 away). Only 2 Belgian clubs were invited to the

1972–73 UEFA Cup The 1972–73 UEFA Cup was the second season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The 1973 UEFA Cup final was played over two legs at Anfield, Liverpool, England, and at Bökelbergstadion, Mönchengladb ...

and RR White.
Club Brugge KV reached the second round by eliminating

Åtvidabergs FF Åtvidabergs Fotbollförening, also known simply as Åtvidabergs FF, Åtvidaberg, Åtvid or (especially locally) ÅFF, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Åtvidaberg. The club is affiliated with Östergötlands ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

(won 5–3 away, lost 1–2 at home) but RR White lost to Grupo Desportivo Cuf of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in the first round (lost 0–1 at home, 0–2 away).
In the second round, Club Brugge KV lost to

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

of Portugal (lost 0–3 away, won 3–2 at home).

Honours

Final league tables

Division I

* 1972-73 Top scorer: Dutchman

Rob Rensenbrink Pieter Robert Rensenbrink (; 3 July 1947 – 24 January 2020) was a Dutch footballer and member of the Netherlands national team that reached two FIFA World Cup finals, in 1974 and 1978. A creative and prolific left winger or forward, he bec ...

(RSC Anderlechtois) and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Alfred Riedl Alfred Riedl (2 November 1949 – 8 September 2020) was an Austrian football player and manager. As a player he was a striker. Playing career Club career Riedl first played for Austria Wien from 1967 to 1972, before leaving Austria to play f ...

( K Sint-Truidense VV) with 16 goals * 1970 Golden Shoe:

Christian Piot Christian Piot (born 4 October 1947) is a Belgian retired football goalkeeper who won the Belgian Golden Shoe in 1972 while at Standard Liège. He played 40 times and scored 1 goal for the Belgium national team between 1969 and 1977, starting ...

(Standard Club Liégeois)http://www.footbel.com/fr/Competitites/statistieken/gouden_schoen.html FA Website

Division II

* Top scorer:

Hans Posthumus Hans Posthumus (10 March 1947 – 15 February 2016) was a Dutch professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Born in Harderwijk, he played for VVOG, Wageningen, Feyenoord, Mechelen, Lierse and NEC. While with Lierse, he was the top- ...

(

KRC Mechelen Koninklijke Racing Club Mechelen, simply known as Racing Mechelen or KRC Mechelen, is a Belgian association football club from Mechelen in the Antwerp province. It is a long-time rival of KV Mechelen. The club's best position ever is a second pl ...

) with 22 goals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1972-73 in Belgian football Seasons in Belgian football Belgian

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...