The Belgian Pro League (officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler) is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 teams from the 2023–24 season onwards, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Challenger Pro League. Seasons run from early August to late April, with teams playing 34 matches each in the regular season, and then entering Play-offs I (also known as the Championship Playoff, title playoffs or Champions' play-offs) or Play-offs II (also known as the Europa League playoff or Europe play-offs) according to their position in the regular season. Play-offs I are contested by the top-four clubs in the regular season, with each club playing each other twice. The team finishing in 18th place is relegated directly. However, the 17th place will battle for promotion-relegation play-off against 2nd place of the Belgian First Division B. The competition was created in 1895 by the Royal Belgian Football Association and was first won by FC Liégeois. Of the 74 clubs to have competed in the first division since its creation, 16 have been crowned champions of Belgium. RSC Anderlecht is the most successful league club with 34 titles, followed by Club Brugge KV (18), Union Saint-Gilloise (11) and Standard Liège (10). It is currently ranked 8th in the UEFA rankings of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five-years. The competition was ranked 3rd when the UEFA first published their ranking in 1979 and also the next year in 1980, which is the best ranking the Belgian First Division has ever achieved. History Origins (1895–1914) The first league in Belgian football was held in 1895–96 as a round-robin tournament with seven teams: Antwerp FC, FC Brugeois, FC Liégeois, RC de Bruxelles, Léopold Club de Bruxelles, SC de Bruxelles, and Union d'Ixelles. FC Liégeois became the first champion of Belgium. The first eight titles in Belgian football were all won by FC Liégeois or RC de Bruxelles. There was no promotion and relegation system at the time, but the last two finishers (FC Brugeois and Union d'Ixelles) withdrew and a new club entered the competition (Athletic and Running Club de Bruxelles). During the 1896–97 season, SC de Bruxelles withdrew, so the 1897–98 season was played by five clubs. In the seasons 1898–99 and 1899–1900, the football