1965–66 in Belgian football

The 1965–1966 season was the 63rd season of competitive football in Belgium. RSC Anderlechtois won their 12th Division I title^[1] and became the club with the most championship wins in Belgium. They also entered the 1965–66 European Champion Clubs' Cup as Belgian title holder. As RSC Anderlechtois was also the Cup holder, the losing finalist Standard Liège entered the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup. RFC Liégeois, R Daring Club de Bruxelles and R Antwerp FC all played the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Standard Liège won the Belgian Cup final against rivals RSC Anderlechtois (1-0). The Belgium national football team ended their 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with pain, and a defeat to Bulgaria in a play-off game for the World Cup finals qualification (2-1 in Florence, Italy).^[2]

Overview

At the end of the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification group 1, Bulgaria and Belgium were both leader of the group ahead of Israel with 6 points each. Although Belgium had a better goal difference, a play-off game was played on a neutral ground (in Florence, Italy) to decide the World Cup qualifier from Group 1. Belgium lost the game 2-1 and so Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup finals in England.

At the end of the season, R Berchem Sport and RCS Brugeois were relegated to Division II and were replaced by KSV Waregem and R Charleroi SC from Division II.
Charleroi were promoted after winning a play-off game 2-0 against K Waterschei SV Thor Genk, after both teams finished the season in 2nd place with 37 points.
The bottom 2 clubs in Division II (RCS Verviétois and KFC Turnhout) were relegated to Division III, to be replaced by KRC Mechelen and SK Beveren-Waas from Division III.
The bottom club of each Division III league (RU Hutoise FC, VV Verbroedering Maasmechelen, RCS Schaerbeek and RFC La Rhodienne) were relegated to the Promotion, to be replaced by RAA Louviéroise, KSC Hasselt, KFC Brasschaat, Voorwaarts Tienen and KSC Eendracht Aalst from Promotion.

National team

Date	Venue	Opponents	Score*	Comp	Belgium scorers
September 26, 1965	Slavia Stadium, Sofia (A)	Bulgaria	0-3	WCQ
October 27, 1965	Stade Emile Versé, Brussels (H)	Bulgaria	5-0	WCQ	Paul Van Himst (2), Johnny Thio (2), Jacques Stockman
November 10, 1965	Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv (A)	Israel	5-0	WCQ	Paul Van Himst (3), Johnny Thio, Wilfried Puis
December 29, 1965	Stadio Comunale, Florence (N)	Bulgaria	1-2	WCQ	Aleksandar Shalamanov (o.g.)
April 17, 1966	Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam (A)	The Netherlands	1-3	F	Lucien Spronck
April 20, 1966	Parc des Princes, Paris (A)	France	3-0	F	Raoul Lambert, Jacques Stockman, Johnny Thio
May 22, 1966	Heysel Stadium, Brussels (H)	Soviet Union	0-1	F
May 25, 1966	Stade de Sclessin, Liège (H)	Republic of Ireland	2-3	F	Paul Van Himst, Godfried Vandenboer

* Belgium score given first

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 advanced to the First Round of the 1965–66 European Champion Clubs' Cup by beating Fenerbahçe of Turkey (drew 0-0 away, won 5-1 at home).
In the First Round, they beat Derry City of Northern Ireland, who withdrew after Anderlecht won the first leg 9-0 in Brussels.
In the Quarter Finals, RSC Anderlechtois lost to Real Madrid of Spain in spite of a 1-0 home win (the Spaniards won the second leg 4-2, and would eventually win their 6th European Cup trophy).

Standard Liège defeated Cardiff City of Wales in the First Round of the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup (won 2-1 away, 1-0 at home), but lost in the Second Round to Liverpool FC (lost 1-3 away, 1-2 at home).

Three Belgian clubs entered the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: R Antwerp FC beat Glentoran FC of Northern Ireland (won 1-0 at home, draw 3-3 away), while RFC Liégeois lost to NK Zagreb of Yugoslavia (won 1-0 at home, lost 0-2 away), and R Daring Club de Bruxelles lost to AIK Fotboll of Sweden (lost 1-3 at home, drew 0-0 away).
In the second round, Antwerp lost to FC Barcelona of Spain (won 2-1 at home, lost 0-2 away).

Honours

Competition	Winner
Division I	RSC Anderlechtois
Cup	Standard Liège
Division II	KSV Waregem
Division III	KRC Mechelen and SK Beveren-Waas
Promotion	RAA Louviéroise, KSC Hasselt, KFC Brasschaat, Voorwaarts Tienen and KSC Eendracht Aalst

Final league tables

Premier Division

Main article: 1965–66 Belgian First Division

1965-66 Top scorer: Paul Van Himst (RSC Anderlechtois) with 25 goals
1965 Golden Shoe: Paul Van Himst (RSC Anderlechtois)

References

Seasons in Belgian football

1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–19
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1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
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2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16

Football in Belgium

Royal Belgian Football Association

National teams

League system

Men	Pro League Second division Third division (A, B) Fourth Division (A, B, C, D) Belgian Provincial leagues

Women	Super League Vrouwenvoetbal First Division Second Division Third Division BeNe League (2012-2015, with the Netherlands)

Domestic cups

Men	Belgian Cup Belgian Super Cup Belgian League Cup (defunct)

Women	Belgian Women's Cup BeNe Super Cup (2012-2015, with the Netherlands)

Awards

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