Q: Why the name? Who is Léon?
A: The Léon in our name refers to the city of Léon in Mexico. On June 15, 1986 during the 1986 World Cup Belgium battled the USSR to a 3-4 a.e.t. win and would later on reach the semi-finals where they encountered Diego Maradona’s Argentina. To honour this legendary game our site is called “Heroes of Léon”
Q: What is a “Matricule”?
A: Every Belgian club that is a member of the Belgian F.A. is assigned a unique identifying number. The practice started in 1926 and for some of the oldest clubs in the country it still is a matter of pride to have a low matricule. R. Antwerp FC, the oldest club in Belgium, still holds matricule 1 for instance. FC Brugge has matricule 3. It is possible to buy and sell these matricules which can lead to very confusing situations as the honours a team collected are linked to it.
Q: How is the Belgian League set up?
In 2016 the National Divisions received a hard cut between Professional Divisions and the Amateur Divisions.
Jupiler Pro League (1A)
Proximus League (1B)
1st Amateur Division
2nd Amateur Division A & B
3rd Amateur Division A & B
The regional leagues typically have one top league called Provincial League One with several lower leagues in a tree structure.
They follow the current province borders with one notable exception: Walloon Brabant, Brussels and Flemish Brabant play in one setup called “Brabant”
Before 2016 (National Setup)
Jupiler Pro League (1st Division)
2nd Division
3rd Division A & B
4th Division A, B, C & D
Q: What’s with the pictures of Belgian stadiums?
All these stadiums once belonged, or still belong, to a team playing in the National Divisions.