Belgian First Amateur Division
The Belgian First Amateur Division is the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division B. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 2016, replacing the Belgian Third Division.
History
The Belgian First Amateur Division was created in 2016 as successor of the Belgian Third Division 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 First Amateur Division. As a result the Belgian Provincial Leagues dropped to the sixth level of the league system.
Competition format
The season is a regular round-robin tournament with 16 teams. The top four teams after the regular season will play a promotion playoff in which they keep 50% of the obtained points during the regular season and the team with the most points after the playoff promotes to the Belgian First Division B.[2]
Regarding relegation, the bottom three team are automatically demoted, while the team finishing in 13th place will play a relegation playoff together with three teams from the Belgian Second Amateur Division with the playoff winner obtaining a spot in next seasons Belgian First Amateur Division.
References