BeNe League

History

First talks of the league began in 2011. As a try-out of cooperation in 2011 the BeNe Super Cup was established. The KBVB/URBSFA approved the league on 10 December 2011. The KNVB approved the league on 13 February 2012.

UEFA then eventually gave the green light for the 2012–13 season on 23 March 2012 after its meeting of its executive committee in Istanbul.

There were some problems in the second season, with two teams not returning for the season, one going bankrupt during the season and one team folding after the season for financial reasons.

Following the third season, Belgium and the Netherlands will have their own top-level league again. The BeNe League initiative was ended because Dutch clubs and the Dutch FA failed to come to an agreement regarding the clubs' financial participation for the following seasons.

Champions

Twente won both seasons. Due to the different stages in the first season there was no official top scorer award given.

Format

Season 2012–13

The League is divided in two stages. In the first stage eight Dutch and eight Belgian teams will play a national League qualifying for the second stage. The second stage is divided in the Women's BeNe League A & B.

BeNe League Orange & Red

The eight Dutch and eight Belgian teams will play a national double round-robin, thus each team playing 14 matches. The number 1 until 4 qualify for the BeNe League A, the numbers 5 until 8 qualify for the BeNe League B.

BeNe League A & B

The league consists of two Leagues (A & B) in which 16 teams take part. The top four teams of each country will advance to the BeNe League A, with the bottom four teams playing the BeNe League B. Both groups then will play another double round-robin for 14 additional matches. After that the winning team in League A is the BeNe League champion. The highest placed Belgian and Dutch team will qualify to the UEFA Women's Champions League. The lowest Belgium team will relegate to the Second Division.

Season 2013–14

Originally, the eight Dutch and eight Belgian teams were to play in a single division in which they would play each other twice, resulting in each team playing 30 matches. However, Belgian side K. St-Truidense VV withdrew from the league before the start of the season, which meant that the season would start with 15 teams. Dutch side FC Utrecht went bankrupt on 21 January 2014 and played their final match three days later; the league soon decreed that all matches played by Utrecht would be deleted from the season table. Since the home-and-away schedule was retained, all 14 remaining teams eventually played 26 matches that counted toward the league standings.

In addition to the above clubs, Royal Antwerp announced it would leave the league for financial reasons upon the completion of the 2013–14 season.

References

References

1. (13 February 2012). "Bondsbestuur stemt in met uitwerking women's BeNe league".
2. (13 February 2012). "Akkoord rond Women's BeNe League".
3. (23 March 2012). "UEFA akkoord met BeNe League voor vrouwen". Algemeen Dagblad.
4. (30 August 2011). "BeNe League; New league for the highest Belgian and Dutch teams.". womenssoccerunited.com.
5. (2 December 2012). "KBVB positive about BeNe League". knvb.nl.
6. (12 February 2012). "Federal administration agrees to BeNe Women's League". knvb.nl.
7. (23 March 2012). "UEFA gives green light for BeNe league". knvb.nl.
8. (8 January 2015). "Women's BeNe League to close as Dutch and Belgians rethink strategy". insideworldfootball.com.
9. (25 May 2013). "FC Twente kampioen BeNe League". NOS.nl.
10. "BeNe League". women.soccerway.com.
11. (7 June 2014). "Vivianne Miedema onbetwiste topscorer". Beneleague.
12. "Standard de Liège is BeNe League-kampioen 2014–2015!".
13. (9 June 2012). "Competitie Reglement Women's BeNe League". VrouwenvoetbalNederland.nl.
14. (23 May 2013). "Opzet BeNe League aangepast". NOS.nl.