After a three week recess from action, the 16 teams in the Belgian Pro League have been enjoying the sunshine during their winter training camps, but will return to action this weekend with Gent and Mechelen getting the new year under way on Friday night.
A couple of Belgian based Yanks have already fled the country during the January transfer window. Sam Vines hopped a bird west to re-join his home town Colorado Rapids after almost three years with Royal Antwerp.Alex Mighten has also been recalled to his parent club, Nottingham Forest, after what can be called a very unsuccessful first half of the season at Kortrijk. The Anglo-American made 12 appearances for the last place Kerels, with very few minutes played.
There are still six Americans kicking it on the fields of Belgium however. So what better way to start the new year than to have a look at these guys, their teams, and what can be expected from them before the regular season ends and the play-offs start.
Before that however, here is a short refresher on how the league works.
The Pro League consists of 16 teams. Last season there were 18 teams, with three of them suffering relegation while one team was promoted. A 16-team league is the format that the Belgian FA has decided upon, with each team playing 30 games. At the end of the regular season, there will be three play-off groups.
The top six teams will compete in play-off group one, which is also known as the championship group. The next six will be in play-off group two, or the European group. As it sounds, the winner of that group will compete for a place in Europe next season.
The third group, consisting of only four teams, is the one that nobody wants to be a part of: the relegation play-off group. So let’s see where our boys are, what play-off group they’re expected to play in and what we can expect from them.
Fourth Place: Mark McKenzie – Genk
Going into the new year, Union St Gilloise is leading the pack with 48 points, six ahead of second-place Anderlecht and 14 ahead of fourth-place Genk. McKenzie is the only Yank currently in the top group and with 10 games left, they cannot afford any slip-ups with seventh place Cercle Brugge just three points behind them.
The Smurfs had a decent December, collecting 10 points with victories over Eupen, Kortrijk and Antwerp. Their only loss came against Anderlecht. On the goal front, they hit the back of the net 13 times, so scoring doesn’t seem to be a problem. McKenzie has solidified his position on the back line and has been putting in some pretty solid performances.
Their objective will be to collect as many points as possible and hopefully climb a bit higher in the standings before the play-offs get underway. And just in case you didn’t know, the total points earned in the regular season will be cut in half when the play-offs get underway.
Eighth Place: Kahveh Zahiroleslam – Sint-Truiden
Probably one of the lesser known Americans playing overseas is Kahveh Zahiroleslam. The former Yale Bulldog played for a year for the Ivy Leaguers before signing a contract with Chicago FC United, where the California-born striker scored nine times in 12 games. He then signed with the Canaries last summer and has slowly worked his way into the starting line-up.
Scoring goals is the team’s problem, however, hitting the back of the net only five times in the last five league games with two wins, a draw and two losses. Zahiroleslam, though playing well, has provided just a single goal and an assist in league action, with another strike in the cup. The team will need him to contribute more if they has aspiration to break into the top group. Fortunately, they appear to be strong enough to avoid falling down to the relegation group.
Ninth Place: Marlon Fossey – Standard Liege
Fossey has had mixed fortunes with les Rouches since joining the club in 2022. In the last three games of 2023, he did start but was subbed off each time, with one seeing him bow out at half time. The American has however appeared in 17 of the team’s 20 games this season.
Standard are sitting in the middle of the second play-off group, nine points out of the first, and to move on up into the sixth spot by the end of the season will be asking too much. They are only two points out of the last play-off group so come the end of the season, they could be fighting for their Pro League lives.
Eleventh Place: Bryan Reynolds & Griffin Yow – Westerlo
A couple of places below Standard Liege we find Westerlo and their two Americans in a tougher spot. Reynolds has been involved in 17 of the team’s 20 games thus far, mainly in his right back position. Yow has been picking up more and more minutes as the season progressed, making 10 appearances and scoring three goals from his right winger position. The young man has been growing in confidence and has more goals in him before the end of the season arrives, so keep an eye on this guy.
Eleventh place however, is just two places from 13th place, and a spot in the fight to maintain their Pro League status. Westerlo is currently not in that spot only because of superior goal difference compared to the teams directly below them. With their next three league games they’ll be going up against Club Brugge (3rd place), Gent (5th place) and Cercle Brugge (7th place) so dropping into that dreaded relegation group is not out of the question.
Fifteenth Place: Gabriel Slonina – Eupen
One space from dead last place is Chelsea loanee Slonina and his Eupen side. If you’re a betting man, a sure bet would be that Eupen will be playing their soccer in the second division next season. The good news is that their American keeper will be long gone before the next season starts. Chelsea will recall him and most likely send him off on loan to another team in another country.
The regular season will end on March 17th and the play-offs will get underway within the week.
This weekend, the 21st gameday, Genk will host Cercle Brugge, Standard will host Kortrijk, Westerlo will head west to take on Club Brugge, Sint-Truiden will head to Brussels to face USG, while Eupen also hits the capital to face Molenbeek.
