The 1998/99 season of the Jupiler League

Jupiler League

The Belgian Pro League is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Belgian Second Division...

 was held between August 21, 1998 and May 16, 1999. Racing Genk

K.R.C. Genk

Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...

 became champions.

Promoted teams

These teams were promoted from the second division

Belgian Second Division

The Belgian Second Division is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system after the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the Belgian Football Association in 1905. Between 2008 and 2010 it was named EXQI League after a television channel owned by the league main sponsor,...

 at the start of the season:

• Oostende
  K.V. Oostende
  K.V. Oostende is a Belgian association football club, from the municipality of Ostend, West Flanders. It was created in 1904 as V.G. Oostende and it has the matricule n°31.- History :...
  
   (second division champions)
• Kortrijk
  K.V. Kortrijk
  Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2008-09 season, and they achieved they best ranking ever during the 2009-10 season, finishing 4th after the play-offs...
  
   (playoff winner)

Relegated teams

These teams were relegated to the second division at the end of the season:

• Kortrijk
  K.V. Kortrijk
  Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2008-09 season, and they achieved they best ranking ever during the 2009-10 season, finishing 4th after the play-offs...
  
  
• Oostende
  K.V. Oostende
  K.V. Oostende is a Belgian association football club, from the municipality of Ostend, West Flanders. It was created in 1904 as V.G. Oostende and it has the matricule n°31.- History :...
  
  

Genk's title success

After a deceiving start of the competition Anderlecht managed to come back at the top of the ranking under the management of Jean Dockx

Jean Dockx

Jean Baptiste Dockx is a former Belgian International footballer. He played for R.W.D. Molenbeek and R.S.C. Anderlecht, and for the Belgium national football team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup and the 1972 UEFA European Football Championship. He was later a manager, and was caretaker manager of...

 and Franky Vercauteren

Franky Vercauteren

François Vercauteren , nicknamed "The Little Prince", is a former Belgian football left winger and is now a football manager, who is currently working for Al Jazira Club.- Career :...

 even beating its long-time rival Standard Liège

Standard Liège

Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (Dutch: Standard Luik [], German: Standard Lüttich , is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège....

 in a memorable 0-6 demonstration. Two matches before the end of the season, the ranking was as such:
1. Genk 32 70
2. Brugge 32 68
3. Anderlecht 32 64

Those three teams were thus still able to win the championship. While Club Brugge

Club Brugge

Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....

 lost its game to Mouscron

R.E. Mouscron

R.E. Mouscron was a Belgian association football club from the municipality of Mouscron, Hainaut. In December 2009 they were declared bankrupt and suspended operations soon after marking the end of professional football in Mouscron.-History:...

 2-0, Anderlecht secured a 2-5 win to Genk. However the Racing did win its last match at Harelbeke and it thus became champion.

Battle for Europe

With Genk qualifying for the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, Anderlecht and Brugge entered the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

.

The relegation dog fight

Lommel

K.F.C. Lommel S.K.

Koninklijke Football Club Lommelse Sportkring was a Belgian football club that existed between 1932 and 2003. It played two spells at the highest level in the Belgian football league system: from 1992 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2003. Its best ranking was reached in 1997 when it finished...

 avoided relegation by winning its last match 2-1 to Charleroi

R. Charleroi S.C.

Sporting du Pays de Charleroi is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at the highest level in Belgian football has started in the 1985–86 season...

 while the newcomer Kortrijk lost to Anderlecht. The other newcomer (Oostende) was already relegated at this moment.

Final league table

36

27

37

29

8

8

25

2

				P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
C	1		Genk K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...	34	22	7	5	74	38
73
	2		Club Brugge Club Brugge Club Brugge Koninklijke Voetbalvereniging is a football club from Bruges in Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and is one of the top clubs in Belgium. Its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,472....	34	22	5	7	65	38
71
	3		Anderlecht R.S.C. Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...	34	21	7	6	76	39
70
	4		Mouscron R.E. Mouscron R.E. Mouscron was a Belgian association football club from the municipality of Mouscron, Hainaut. In December 2009 they were declared bankrupt and suspended operations soon after marking the end of professional football in Mouscron.-History:...	34	19	9	6	76	47
66
	5		Lokeren	34	17	6	11	69	61
57
	6		Standard Liège Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (Dutch: Standard Luik [], German: Standard Lüttich , is a Belgian football club from the city of Liège....	34	17	3	14	55	47
54
	7		Lierse Lierse S.K. Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring is a Belgian professional football club, from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse has been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2010-11 season and they have already won the competition 4 times. They also have won 2 Belgian Cups...	34	16	6	12	72	47
54
	8		Gent	34	14	10	10	55	59
52
	9		Sint-Truidense	34	14	9	11	52	46	6	51
	10		Germinal Ekeren	34	14	7	13	48	46
49
	11		Harelbeke K.R.C. Zuid-West-Vlaanderen Koninklijke Racing Club Harelbeke was a Belgian football club from the municipality of Harelbeke, West-Vlaanderen from 1930 to 2002. It played one spell in the first division from 1995 to 2001....	34	10	11	13	44	46
41
	12		Westerlo K.V.C. Westerlo Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo is a Belgian professional football club located in the city of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp. Westerlo has been playing in the Belgian Pro League since 1997–98. Their highest finish is a 6th place in 1999–2000, 2003–04 and 2008–09. They have won 1 Belgian...	34	11	7	16	56	62
40
	13		Eendracht Aalst V.C. Eendracht Aalst 2002 SC Eendracht Aalst is a Belgian football club based in Aalst, East Flanders.It changed its name in 2002 after former Belgian First Division club K.S.C. Eendracht Aalst had gone into liquidation. So they could not get the license and the new team began at the third division level...	34	9	8	17	48	66
35
	14		Charleroi R. Charleroi S.C. Sporting du Pays de Charleroi is a Belgian football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League and their current spell at the highest level in Belgian football has started in the 1985–86 season...	34	7	11	16	40	54
32
	15		Beveren K.S.K. Beveren Koninklijke Sportkring Beveren was a Belgian association football club from the town of Beveren in East Flanders. It was famous for its goalkeeping school that has produced such players as Jean-Marie Pfaff, Filip De Wilde, Geert De Vlieger, Erwin Lemmens, and Tristan Peersman, all of whom have...	34	8	6	20	33	60
30
	16		Lommel K.F.C. Lommel S.K. Koninklijke Football Club Lommelse Sportkring was a Belgian football club that existed between 1932 and 2003. It played two spells at the highest level in the Belgian football league system: from 1992 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2003. Its best ranking was reached in 1997 when it finished...	34	7	7	20	33	56
28
R	17		Kortrijk K.V. Kortrijk Koninklijke Voetbalclub Kortrijk is a Belgian professional football club based in Kortrijk, West Flanders. They have been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2008-09 season, and they achieved they best ranking ever during the 2009-10 season, finishing 4th after the play-offs...	34	6	7	21	49	81
25
R	18		Oostende K.V. Oostende K.V. Oostende is a Belgian association football club, from the municipality of Ostend, West Flanders. It was created in 1904 as V.G. Oostende and it has the matricule n°31.- History :...	34	4	10	20	27	79
22

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; C = Champions; R = Relegated

Top goal scorers

Scorer	Goals	Team
Jan Koller Jan Koller Jan Koller is Czech footballer currently playing in AFK Smetanova Lhota.As an international player he played as a striker for the Czech Republic national team. He is the all-time leading goal scorer for either the Czech Republic or the former Czechoslovakia, with 55 goals in 91 caps...	24	Lokeren
Branko Strupar Branko Strupar Branko Strupar is a former Croatian-Belgian football striker. In 1999, he became a naturalised Belgian by marriage. He consequently played for the Belgium national football team with whom he played 17 matches and scored 5 times....	18	Genk K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...
Souleymane Oulare Souleymane Oulare Souleymane Oulare , is a professional football player.-Career:He was elected Footballer of the Year in Belgium in 1999, when he won the Belgian Championship as a striker with Racing Genk, scoring 17 goals during the season. He then went on to play for Fenerbahçe SK , UD Las Palmas , Stoke City , K...	17	Genk K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk , usually referred to as Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and they have won 3 Belgian champion titles in 1998–99, in 2001–02 and in 2010–11 as...
Zoran Ban Zoran Ban Zoran Ban is a retired Croatian professional football player.-External links:*...	16	Mouscron R.E. Mouscron R.E. Mouscron was a Belgian association football club from the municipality of Mouscron, Hainaut. In December 2009 they were declared bankrupt and suspended operations soon after marking the end of professional football in Mouscron.-History:...
Tomasz Radzinski Tomasz Radzinski Not to be confused with the Czech footballer Tomáš RosickýTomasz Radzinski is a Canadian association footballer who plays as a striker. He is currently unattached.-Club career:...	15	Anderlecht R.S.C. Anderlecht Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, usually known as Anderlecht or RSCA , is a Belgian professional football club based in Anderlecht in the Brussels Capital Region. Anderlecht plays in the Belgian Pro League and is the most successful Belgian football team in European competitions as well as in the...
Jochen Janssen	15	Westerlo K.V.C. Westerlo Koninklijke Voetbal Club Westerlo is a Belgian professional football club located in the city of Westerlo in the province of Antwerp. Westerlo has been playing in the Belgian Pro League since 1997–98. Their highest finish is a 6th place in 1999–2000, 2003–04 and 2008–09. They have won 1 Belgian...
Filip Fiers	15	Sint-Truidense
Eric Van Meir Eric Van Meir Eric van Meir is a former Belgian football defender, and current head coach of Lierse SK. His former clubs include Lierse, Charleroi and Standard Liège...	14	Lierse Lierse S.K. Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring is a Belgian professional football club, from the city of Lier in the Antwerp province. Lierse has been playing in the Belgian Pro League since the 2010-11 season and they have already won the competition 4 times. They also have won 2 Belgian Cups...