Belgian Pro League top scorers

The following is the list of Belgian Pro League top scorers by season, since the inception of the Belgian First Division A in 1895 until the present day.

Arthur Ceuleers and Jules Van Craen hold the record for most goals in a single season at 41. Erwin Vandenbergh holds the record for most awards won, with six wins. The most recent top scorer of the Belgian First Division A is Hamdi Harbaoui.

Criteria

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In recent years, the criteria to determine the top scorer in the Belgian First Division A have been extended, making it nearly impossible to have two or more shared winners in a season The criteria are currently as follows, in order:

  • Number of goals scored
  • Number of away goals scored
  • Number of minutes played
  • Number of assists
  • Number of goals scored, not taking into account penalty kicks

The ranking is computed after each matchday. Until matchday three, the player who scored the most goals during the previous season will play with the image of a "golden bull" on his back. Thereafter, each matchday the leader in the standings will get the image on his shirt. The final standings are computed upon conclusion of the championship playoffs and the Europa League playoffs. The test matches to determine the final team going to the Europa League are not taken into account.

List of top scorers

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Key
Player (X) Name of the player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
Indicates multiple award winners in the same season
Indicates player also won the European Golden Shoe in the same season
§ Denotes the club were Belgian Pro League champions in the same season
Belgian Pro League top scorers
Season Player Nationality Club Goals
1895–96 Samuel Hickson   England FC Liégeois§ ?
1896–97 Samuel Hickson (2)   England FC Liégeois ?
1897–98 Frank König    Switzerland Racing Club de Bruxelles ?
1898–99 Frank König (2)    Switzerland Racing Club de Bruxelles ?
1899–1900 Charles Atkinson   England Racing Club de Bruxelles§ ?
1900–01 Herbert Potts   England Beerschot AC 26
1901–02 Herbert Potts (2)   England Beerschot AC 16
1902–03 Gustave Vanderstappen   Belgium Union SG ?
1903–04 Gustave Vanderstappen (2)   Belgium Union SG§ 30
1904–05 Robert De Veen   Belgium FC Brugeois ?
1905–06 Robert De Veen (2)   Belgium FC Brugeois 26
1906–07 Maurice Vertongen   Belgium Racing Club de Bruxelles 29
1907–08 Maurice Vertongen (2)   Belgium Racing Club de Bruxelles§ 23
1908–09 Vahram Kevorkian   Russian Empire Racing Club de Bruxelles 30
1909–10 Maurice Vertongen (3)   Belgium Union SG§ 36
1910–11 Alphonse Six   Belgium CS Brugeois§ 40
1911–12 Maurice Bunyan   England Racing Club de Bruxelles 35
1912–13 Sylva Brébart   Belgium Daring Club de Bruxelles 31
1913–14 Maurice Bunyan (2)   England Racing Club de Bruxelles 28
No official championship played from 1914 to 1919 due to World War I
1919–20 Honoré Vlamynck   Belgium Daring Club de Bruxelles 26
1920–21 Ivan Thys   Belgium Beerschot AC 23
1921–22 Ivan Thys (2)   Belgium Beerschot AC§ 21
1922–23 Achille Meyskens   Belgium Union SG§ 24
1923–24 Charles Jooris   Belgium Racing Club de Bruxelles 18
1924–25 Joseph Taeymans   Belgium Berchem Sport 20
1925–26 Laurent Grimmonprez   Belgium RC Gent 28
1926–27 Lucien Fabry   Belgium Standard CL 28
1927–28 Raymond Braine   Belgium Beerschot AC§ 35
1928–29 Raymond Braine (2)   Belgium Beerschot AC 30
1929–30 Pierre De Vidts   Belgium Daring Club de Bruxelles 26
1930–31 Jacques Secretin   Belgium RCFC Montegnée 21
1930–31 Joseph Van Beeck   Belgium Antwerp FC§ 21
1931–32 Bernard Delmez   Belgium Liersche SK§ 26
1932–33 Willy Ulens   Belgium Antwerp FC 26
1933–34 Vital Van Landeghem   Belgium Union SG§ 29
1934–35 Marius Mondelé   Belgium Daring Club de Bruxelles 28
1935–36 Flor Lambrechts   Belgium Antwerp FC 37
1936–37 Jean Collet   Belgium White Star WAC 22
1937–38 Marius Mondelé (2)   Belgium Daring Club de Bruxelles 32
1938–39 Jozef Wagner   Belgium Antwerp FC 31
Championship stopped in 1939-40 due to World War II, while in 1940-41 only an unofficial competition was played
1941–42 Bert De Cleyn   Belgium Antwerp FC 34
1942–43 Arthur Ceuleers   Belgium Beerschot AC 41
1942–43 Jules Van Craen   Belgium Liersche SK 41
1943–44 Jan Goossens   Belgium OC Charleroi 34
1944-45 championship not played due to World War II, while the 1945-46 season was stopped for the same reason
1946–47 Jef Mermans   Belgium Anderlecht§ 39
1947–48 Jef Mermans (2)   Belgium Anderlecht 23
1948–49 René Thirifays   Belgium Charleroi 26
1949–50 Jef Mermans (3)   Belgium Anderlecht§ 37
1950–51 Albert Dehert   Belgium Berchem Sport 27
1951–52 Jozef Mannaerts   Belgium KRC Mechelen 25 [1]
1952–53 Rik Coppens   Belgium Beerschot AC 35
1953–54 Hippolyte Van Den Bosch   Belgium Anderlecht§ 29
1954–55 Rik Coppens (2)   Belgium Beerschot 35
1955–56 Jean Mathonet   Belgium Standard 26
1956–57 Maurice Willems   Belgium Gent 35
1957–58 Jef Vliers   Belgium Beerschot 25
1958–59 Victor Wegria   Belgium RFC Liégeois 26
1959–60 Victor Wegria (2)   Belgium Liégeois 21
1960–61 Victor Wegria (3)   Belgium Liégeois 23
1961–62 Jacky Stockman   Belgium Anderlecht§ 29
1962–63 Victor Wegria (4)   Belgium Liégeois 29
1963–64 Paul Van Himst   Belgium Anderlecht§ 26
1964–65 Jean-Paul Colonval   Belgium Tilleur 25
1965–66 Paul Van Himst (2)   Belgium Anderlecht§ 25
1966–67 Jan Mulder   Netherlands Anderlecht§ 20
1967–68 Roger Claessen   Belgium Standard Liège 20
1967–68 Paul Van Himst (3)   Belgium Anderlecht§ 20
1968–69 Antal Nagy   Hungary Standard Liège§ 20
1969–70 Lothar Emmerich   Germany Beerschot 29
1970–71 Erwin Kostedde   Germany Standard Liège§ 26
1971–72 Raoul Lambert   Belgium Club Brugge 17
1972–73 Robbie Rensenbrink   Netherlands Anderlecht 16
1972–73 Alfred Riedl   Austria Sint-Truiden 16
1973–74 Attila Ladynski   Hungary Anderlecht§ 22
1974–75 Alfred Riedl (2)   Austria Antwerp 28
1975–76 Hans Posthumus   Netherlands Lierse 26
1976–77 François Van Der Elst   Belgium Anderlecht 21
1977–78 Harald Nickel   Germany Standard Liège 22
1978–79 Erwin Albert   Germany Beveren§ 28
1979–80 Erwin Vandenbergh   Belgium Lierse 39
1980–81 Erwin Vandenbergh (2)   Belgium Lierse 24
1981–82 Erwin Vandenbergh (3)   Belgium Lierse 25
1982–83 Erwin Vandenbergh (4)   Belgium Anderlecht 20
1983–84 Nico Claesen   Belgium Seraing 27
1984–85 Ronny Martens   Belgium Gent 23
1985–86 Erwin Vandenbergh (5)   Belgium Anderlecht§ 27
1986–87 Arnór Guðjohnsen   Iceland Anderlecht§ 19
1987–88 Francis Severeyns   Belgium Antwerp 24
1988–89 Eddie Krncevic   Australia Anderlecht 23
1989–90 Frank Farina   Australia Club Brugge§ 24
1990–91 Erwin Vandenbergh (6)   Belgium Gent 23
1991–92 Josip Weber   Croatia Cercle Brugge 26
1992–93 Josip Weber (2)   Croatia Cercle Brugge 31
1993–94 Josip Weber (3)   Belgium[2] Cercle Brugge 31
1994–95 Aurelio Vidmar   Australia Standard Liège 22
1995–96 Mario Stanić   Croatia Club Brugge§ 20
1996–97 Robert Špehar   Croatia Club Brugge 26
1997–98 Branko Strupar   Croatia Genk 22
1998–99 Jan Koller   Czech Republic Lokeren 24
1999–2000 Ole Martin Årst   Norway Gent 30
1999–2000 Toni Brogno   Belgium Westerlo 30
2000–01 Tomasz Radzinski   Canada Anderlecht§ 23
2001–02 Wesley Sonck   Belgium Genk§ 30
2002–03 Cédric Roussel   Belgium Mons 22
2002–03 Wesley Sonck (2)   Belgium Genk 22
2003–04 Luigi Pieroni   Belgium Mouscron 28
2004–05 Nenad Jestrović   Serbia and Montenegro Anderlecht 18
2005–06 Tosin Dosunmu   Nigeria Germinal Beerschot 18
2006–07 François Sterchele   Belgium Germinal Beerschot 21
2007–08 Joseph Akpala   Nigeria Charleroi 18
2008–09 Jaime Alfonso Ruiz   Colombia Westerlo 18
2009–10 Romelu Lukaku   Belgium Anderlecht§ 15 [3]
2010–11 Ivan Perišić   Croatia Club Brugge 22
2011–12 Jérémy Perbet   France Mons 25
2012–13 Carlos Bacca   Colombia Club Brugge 25
2013–14 Hamdi Harbaoui   Tunisia Lokeren 22
2014–15 Aleksandar Mitrović   Serbia Anderlecht 20
2015–16 Jérémy Perbet (2)   France Charleroi 22
2016–17 Łukasz Teodorczyk   Poland Anderlecht§ 22 [4]
2017–18 Hamdi Harbaoui (2)   Tunisia Anderlecht & Zulte Waregem 22 [5]
2018–19 Hamdi Harbaoui (3)   Tunisia Zulte Waregem 25
2019–20 Dieumerci Mbokani   Democratic Republic of the Congo Antwerp 18 [6]
2020–21 Paul Onuachu   Nigeria Genk 33
2021–22 Deniz Undav   Germany Union SG 26
2022–23 Hugo Cuypers   Belgium Gent 24
2023–24 Kévin Denkey   Togo Cercle Brugge 27

Notes

  • 1^ Originally, Rik Coppens was credited with the title of top scorer for the 1951–52 season with 22 goals, until in 2011 a fan noticed that Jozef Mannaerts had actually scored 23 goals that season and the title changed hands.[1]
  • 2^ Josip Weber changed nationality during the 1993–94 season.
  • 3^ Starting with the 2009–10 season, only 30 games were played in the regular competition to decide upon the title of topscorer. In the first season, the title of top scorer was decided immediately after these 30 games. However, from the season 2010–11 on, the goals scored during the playoffs will count.[2] If this rule had been in place during the 2009–10 season, Dorge Kouemaha would have been top scorer instead of Lukaku.
  • 4^ Nigerian striker Henry Onyekuru also scored 22 goals for Eupen, but the top scorer award was given to Teodorczyk as he scored more away goals than Onyekuru.
  • 5^ Harbaoui transferred from Anderlecht to Zulte Waregem during the winter transfer window. He scored 3 and 19 goals for respectively Anderlecht and Zulte Waregem over the course of the whole season.
  • 6^ The 2019–20 Belgian First Division A was stopped after 29 of 40 matches played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that point, both Mbokani and Canadian striker Jonathan David had scored 18 goals but Mbokani won the top scorer award as he scored more away goals than David.

References

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  1. ^ "RC Mechelen-forward is the top scorer of the 1951-52 season" (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2011-12-06.
  2. ^ "Top scorer known only after play-offs" (in Dutch). nieuwsblad.be. 2011-03-18. Archived from the original on 2012-09-14.