The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale in Dutch or Nationale 1 in French, is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Challenger Pro League. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 2016, coming in at the third level and pushing all divisions one level down. Until the 2019–20 season, it was known as the Belgian First Amateur Division, but was renamed due to the negative connotation of the word amateur.
| Founded | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Country | Belgium |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 28 (from 2024–25) |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| Promotion to | Challenger Pro League |
| Relegation to | Belgian Division 2 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Belgian Cup |
| Current champions | La Louvière (2023–24) |
| Current: 2024–25 Belgian National Division 1 | |
History
The Belgian First Amateur Division was created in 2016 following an overhaul of the Belgian football league system which saw the number of professional clubs reduced to 24. As a result, from the third level and below only amateur clubs remain.[1] The two remaining levels above the Belgian Provincial leagues were reformed into three amateur levels, namely the Belgian First Amateur Division, the Belgian Second Amateur Division and the Belgian Third Amateur Division. As a result, the Belgian Provincial Leagues dropped to the sixth level of the league system.
In 2020 the levels were renamed to Belgian National Division 1, Belgian Division 2 and Belgian Division 3 respectively.
In 2022–23, the league was expanded to 20 teams but reduce to 18 teams from 2023–24.
From 2024–25 season, the league was expanded to 28 teams will divided into two groups previously single league table.
Competition format
The season is a regular round-robin tournament with 18 teams. The top two teams automatically direct promotion to Challenger Pro League for 2024–25 season.[2]
Regarding relegation, the bottom three teams are automatically demoted, while the team finishing in 17th place play a relegation playoff together with three teams from the Belgian Division 2 with the playoff winner obtaining a spot in the following season's Belgian National Division 1.
From 2024–25 season, National Division 1 divide into two groups VV 16 teams and ACFF 12 teams, respectively. VV group will 38 matches no play-off and ACFF group will 22 matches with play-off matches as finishing top six clubs will battle for promotion play-off and bottom six clubs will battle for relegation play-off.