The 2003–04 season of the Belgian First Division was held between 8 August 2003 and 15 May 2004. Sporting Anderlecht became champions on 24 April 2004.
Promoted teams
These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the season:
- Cercle Brugge K.S.V. (second division champions)
- K. Heusden-Zolder (playoff winner)
Relegated teams
These teams were relegated to the second division at the end of the season:
- K. Heusden-Zolder
- R. Antwerp F.C.
Anderlecht's title success
The battle for the title was not great as Anderlecht had a big lead over their opponents (mainly Club Brugge). However, a bad finish from Anderlecht kept the suspense until the 31st matchday when Club Brugge drew with Mouscron while the team from Brussels also drew (1-1) at Herman Vanderpoortenstadion, the homeground of Lierse.
Battle for Europe
The next week, Club Brugge was sure to enter the UEFA Champions League Preliminary Round with a 1-0 win against Standard Liège, then lying third. In spite of this defeat, Standard managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup as they were 6 points ahead of Mouscron after the 32nd matchday. The suspense was killed after a 1-1 draw against Charleroi the next Saturday.
The relegation dog fight
The end of the league was thus centered on the battle against relegation. Four teams were concerned : R.A.E.C. Mons and Charleroi, which finally saved themselves, R. Antwerp F.C. and K. Beringen-Heusden-Zolder finishing respectively 6 and 5 points adrift.
Final league table
<onlyinclude></onlyinclude>
Results
Top goal scorers
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Scorer
!Goals
!Team
|-
| Luigi Pieroni
|style="text-align:center;"|28
|Mouscron
|-
| Émile Mpenza
|style="text-align:center;"|21
|Standard Liège
|-
| Tosin Dosunmu
|style="text-align:center;"|16
|Westerlo
|-
| Aruna Dindane
|style="text-align:center;"|15
|Anderlecht
|-
| Gert Verheyen
|style="text-align:center;"|15
|Club Brugge
|-
| Andrés Mendoza
|style="text-align:center;"|14
|Club Brugge
|-
| Cédric Roussel
|style="text-align:center;"|14
|Racing Genk
|}
Attendances
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
! No. !! style="text-align:left;" | Club !! Average attendance !! Change !! Highest
|-
| 1 || style="text-align:left;" | Anderlecht || 24,160 || 2,1% || 26,311
|-
| 2 || style="text-align:left;" | Club Brugge || 23,716 || 13,1% || 27,900
|-
| 3 || style="text-align:left;" | Genk || 23,627 || -0,9% || 25,061
|-
| 4 || style="text-align:left;" | Standard de Liège || 16,888 || 14,5% || 26,000
|-
| 5 || style="text-align:left;" | Charleroi || 9,083 || -9,0% || 17,000
|-
| 6 || style="text-align:left;" | Gent || 8,355 || -4,3% || 10,500
|-
| 7 || style="text-align:left;" | Mouscron || 7,711 || -5,8% || 10,654
|-
| 8 || style="text-align:left;" | STVV || 7,665 || -3,1% || 11,000
|-
| 9 || style="text-align:left;" | Germinal Beerschot || 7,429 || -1,8% || 11,000
|-
| 10 || style="text-align:left;" | Lierse || 7,253 || -12,2% || 11,250
|-
| 11 || style="text-align:left;" | Antwerp || 6,735 || -6,1% || 13,000
|-
| 12 || style="text-align:left;" | Sporting Lokeren || 5,570 || -10,4% || 7,000
|-
| 13 || style="text-align:left;" | Westerlo || 5,282 || -6,0% || 10,000
|-
| 14 || style="text-align:left;" | Heusden-Zolder || 5,105 || 153,9% || 9,270
|-
| 15 || style="text-align:left;" | Cercle Brugge || 5,103 || 103,6% || 13,550
|-
| 16 || style="text-align:left;" | Beveren || 4,941 || 9,4% || 8,000
|-
| 17 || style="text-align:left;" | RAEC || 4,582 || -25,5% || 7,000
|-
| 18 || style="text-align:left;" | RAAL || 4,300 || -17,0% || 7,000
|}
<small>Source:</small>
See also
- 2003–04 in Belgian football
References
- Sport.be website - Archive