The 2020–21 season of the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

began in August 2020 and ended in April 2021. Union SG became champions on 13 March 2021, returning to the highest level of Belgian football for the first time since the 1972–73 season.

Team changes

In

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Lei ...

were promoted from the

2019–20 Belgian First Amateur Division The 2019–20 Belgian First Amateur Division was the fourth season of the third-tier football league in Belgium. Mid-March all matches were temporarily postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, only to be canceled permanently two weeks la ...

as champions. *

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

and RWD Molenbeek filled in the open spots left by the extra relegations of Roeselare and Virton, as highest finishing teams which had obtained a professional footballing licence. * As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was repor ...

, no team was relegated from the

2019–20 Belgian First Division A The 2019–20 Belgian First Division A (officially known as Jupiler Pro League) was the 117th season of top-tier football in Belgium. On 2 April 2020, the Jupiler Pro League's board of directors agreed to propose to cancel the season early durin ...

and two teams were promoted from the

2019–20 Belgian First Division B The 2019–20 season of the Belgian First Division B began in August 2019 and was scheduled to end in April 2020 but will eventually conclude on 2 August 2020 with the return leg of the promotion playoff. Since mid-March all matches had been post ...

, meaning two extra teams needed to be added to the league. From the 2019–20 Belgian First Amateur Division only

Lierse Kempenzonen Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring is a Belgian association football club located in Lier, in the province of Antwerp. The club, founded in 1943 as Oosterzonen in Oosterwijk, was relocated to Lier following the bankruptcy of Lierse in 2018. Afte ...

remained as team which had obtained the necessary Belgian professional football licence (despite nearly relegating in that division), hence they were promoted and finally as no other team was eligible from that division, the youth squad of

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

was added to again end up with 8 teams. This team will play under the name Club NXT.

Out

* Due to the Belgian First Division A expanding from 16 to 18 teams, both finalists

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

and

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

were promoted to

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

for the next season. *

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

went bankrupt and folded. Temse moved to Lokeren and renamed themselves K.S.C. Lokeren-Temse playing in the Belgian Second Amateur Division. * Both

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

and

Virton Virton (; Gaumais: ''Viertån''; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is also the administrative centre of the district (''arrondissement'') of the same name, as well as the principal town ...

were denied a professional licence and forced to relegate, Roeselare to the Belgian First Amateur Division, Virton to the Belgian Second Amateur Division as they were also refused a remunerated licence.

Format changes

Only in the 2020–21 season, the league will no longer consist of two separate competitions but will be one single league in which all teams play each other four times. There will be no more playoffs, no teams will qualify for the Europa League playoffs and the bottom team will be relegated directly.

Team information

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top assists

Clean sheets

Team of the season

Upon completion of the regular season a ''team of the season'' award was compiled, based upon the results of the ''team of the week'' results throughout the season, constructed based on nominations from managers, assistant-managers, journalists and analysts. The results were announced from 4 May 2021, with one player revealed each day.

Number of teams by provinces

While Club NXT is a team from West Flanders, they are playing their home matches in Lokeren, which is located in East Flanders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgian First Division B 2020-21 2020-21 2020–21 in European second-tier association football leagues 2