2019–20_Oud-Heverlee_Leuven_season

2019–20 Oud-Heverlee Leuven season

2019–20 Oud-Heverlee Leuven season

Oud-Heverlee Leuven 2019–20 football season

The 2019–20 season was Oud-Heverlee Leuven's 18th competitive season in professional football and the team's fourth consecutive season at the second level following their relegation from the Belgian Pro League in 2016. By clinching the first half of the season title in November 2019, Oud-Heverlee Leuven qualified for the promotion play-offs to play for the overall title and promotion, in which they faced Beerschot, who won the second half of the season.

Quick Facts Owner, Chairman ...

After the first leg of the promotion final was played, which the club lost 1–0, the second leg at home was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] Mid-May, the Belgian association of professional football clubs decided that the second leg should take place behind closed doors in the first weekend of August to determine the champion and promoting team, on 2 August 2020. Eventually however, on 31 July 2020, just two days before the actual final match, the decision was overturned and instead the 2020–21 Belgian First Division A would be expanded to 18 (from 16) teams, meaning both OH Leuven and Beerschot would be promoted. While both clubs had already clinched promotion because of this, the second leg of the promotional final was still played (behind closed doors), with Beerschot winning again and taking the overall title.

2019–20 squad

  • This section lists players who were in Oud-Heveree Leuven's first team squad at any point during the 2019–20 season
  • The symbol ℒ indicates a player who is on loan from another club
  • The symbol ¥ indicates a youngster who has appeared on the match sheet at least once during the season (possibly as unused substitute)
More information No., Nationality ...

Transfers

Main articles: List of Belgian football transfers summer 2019 and List of Belgian football transfers winter 2019–20

May 2019 saw the first official transfer news published as midfielder Aboubakar Keita, who was already on loan from Copenhagen since the winter 2018–19 transfer window, was now signed permanently until 2022.[2] Meanwhile experienced midfielder Koen Persoons was announced as new signing by Belgian Second Amateur Division club Knokke.[3] The first new player incoming was 29 year old French midfielder Xavier Mercier, who came over from Cercle Brugge where he had previously worked under the duo of Franky Vercauteren and Vincent Euvrard when they won the 2017–18 Belgian First Division B title and were promoted. That season Mercier also won the Belgian First Division B MVP award.[4] Still before summer, OH Leuven also departed from Jovan Kostovski whose contract had ended after six seasons with the club, allowing him a free agent move to Cypriot team Ethnikos Achna.[5]

With the season at an end, several players returned from loan deals: young strikers Jo Gilis and Daan Vekemans returned from Eendracht Aalst with which they had not been able to avoid relegation from the 2018–19 Belgian First Amateur Division. The duo would join the reserve squad for 2019–20. Dutch striker Sam Hendriks returned from Cambuur where he had been on good form until a serious knee injury saw him sidelined for the remainder of 2019. Winger Leo Njengo returned from a loan to Heist, but as he was end of contract he left the club, signing some weeks later for Visé.[6] Also returning from loan deal was defender Jordy Gillekens who had been loaned to Fiorentina. Meanwhile his goalkeeping brother Nick Gillekens was released after his contract ended, which was also the case for French midfielder Julien Gorius and Senegalese striker Simon Diedhiou. On the outgoing front, with their loan deals ending both Ahmed Touba and Jellert van Landschoot returned to Club Brugge after the season, similarly both Polish international Bartosz Kapustka and Elliott Moore returned to Leicester City F.C. Under-23s and Academy. Kapustka had in fact already returned a few months earlier to recover in Leicester from an injury ending his season while Moore was sold by Leicester City to Oxford United after two seasons on loan to OH Leuven. Kamal Sowah however remained with the squad, as it became clear his loan deal had been extended with one further season. On the other hand, English striker George Hirst was signed by Leicester City on a permanent basis.[7]

In July, the club signed midfielder Tom Van Hyfte from direct competitors Beerschot[8] and with Darren Keet brought in a new goalkeeper to replace Gillekens. Although South-African, Keet already has some five seasons of experience with the Belgian league as he played for Kortrijk from 2011 to 2016.[9] Meanwhile winger Joeri Dequevy moved to Belgian First Division team RWDM47.[10] Mid August saw the return of former OH Leuven defender Pierre-Yves Ngawa who returned after playing in the Italian Serie B for two seasons,[11] replacing Dimitri Daeseleire who left for Rupel Boom.[12] With transfer deadline day approaching, several players who were deemed surplus found a solution by moving to a different team: Jarno Libert to RWDM47,[13] Jenthe Mertens to Go Ahead Eagles[14] and Redouane Kerrouche to Aves.[15] Meanwhile Burkinabé international Dylan Ouédraogo was brought in from Apollon Limassol as a backup defender.[16] Finally, two last minute incoming transfers occurred with Slovenian winger/striker Milan Tučić being signed from Rudar Velenje[17] and striker Jérémy Perbet arriving on loan from Charleroi.[18]

During the 2019–20 winter transfer window, OH Leuven engaged in only few transfers. On the incoming side, midway through January, 21 year old Canadian Tristan Borges was brought in from Forge FC,[19] while on transfer deadline day two more players came in from Gent: Jan Van den Bergh was loaned for 6-months (without buy clause)[20] while Stallone Limbombe was signed until 2022.[21] A few days after the transfer window had closed, former OHL player Yohan Croizet was signed as a free agent player, returning to the club after an earlier spell from 2014 to 2016.[22] On the outgoing side, two players were sent out on loan: striker Sam Hendriks moved until the end of the season to Cambuur, where he had already been on loan the previous season;[23] while Kawin Thamsatchanan was loaned out until the end of 2020 to Japanese team Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo.[24]

More information Date announced, Position ...

Belgian First Division B

Main article: 2019–20 Belgian First Division B

OHL's season in the Belgian First Division B began on 4 August 2018.

Results

More information Match Details, Home Team ...

Belgian Cup

Main article: 2019–20 Belgian Cup

Results

More information Match Details, Home Team ...

Squad statistics

Includes only competitive matches.

Appearances

Players with no appearances not included in the list.
More information No., Pos. ...

Goalscorers

More information Rank, Pos. ...

Clean sheets

More information No., Player ...

Footnotes

  1. [N 1]
    Keita was already on loan from Copenhagen to OH Leuven during the second half of the 2018-19 season. All parties agreed to make the transfer permanent.
  2. [N 2]
    Sowah was already on loan from Leicester City to OH Leuven during the 2018-19 season. The loan was extended with another season.
  1. On 1 November 2019 the match between OH Leuven and Union SG was stopped during the second half at a 0–0 scoreline, when part of the floodlights in the stadium stopped working. The lights had been malfunctioning several times throughout the match and when the total time of delay exceeded 30 minutes the referee had to stop the match as per the rules of the Belgian FA. After investigations,[25] the commission of the Belgian FA ruled on 2 January 2020 that OHL was to lose the match by a forfeit score of 0–5.[26] OH Leuven appealed the decision at the Belgian court for sports arbitrage (BAS) which ruled on 31 January 2020 that the match needed to be replayed in full as the club could not be deemed accountable for the floodlight failure and the referee had insufficiently motivated his decision to stop the match.[27] The match was replayed on 11 February 2020.
  2. Full replay of match started on 1 November 2019.

References

  1. [1]
    "Promotiematch tussen OHL en Beerschot uitgesteld naar latere datum" [Promotional match between OHL and Beerschot postponed to later date]. sporza.be. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  2. [2]
    "OHL legt Keita vast" [OHL signs Keita] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-05-09. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  3. [3]
    "Persoons trekt naar Knokke: "De komende 2 jaar vind je me in de beach bars"" [Persoons moves to Knokke: "Coming two years you'll find me at the beach bars"] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2019-05-24.[permanent dead link]
  4. [4]
    "Nieuwe spelmaker voor OH Leuven" [New playmaker for OH Leuven] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-06-16. Archived from the original on 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  5. [5]
    "(ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΕΣ) KOSTOVSKI για την επίθεση!" [(INFORMATION) KOSTOVSKI on the attack!] (in Greek). kerkida.net. 2019-06-23.
  6. [6]
    "Visé est ambitieux mais reste lucide avant la D1 Amateurs" [Visé is ambitious but remains lucid ahead of the D1 Amateur] (in French). rtc.be. 2019-08-17.
  7. [7]
    "George Hirst naar Leicester City" [George Hirst to Leicester City] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-07-05. Archived from the original on 2019-07-05. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  8. [8]
    "OH Leuven haalt brok ervaring naar Den Dreef" [OH Leuven brings heap of experience to Den Dreef] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-07-10. Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  9. [9]
    "OHL haalt Zuid-Afrikaan opnieuw naar België" [OHL brings South African back to Belgium] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-07-31. Archived from the original on 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  10. [10]
    "NEW TRANSFERT" [NEW TRANSFER] (in French). rwdm.be. 2019-07-29.
  11. [11]
    "Oude bekende keert terug naar Den Dreef" [Old familiar returns to Den Dreef] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-08-11. Archived from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  12. [12]
    "DIMITRI DAESELEIRE: 2 JAAR RUPEL BOOM" [DIMITRI DAESELEIRE: 2 SEASONS RUPEL BOOM] (in Dutch). rupelboomfc.be. 2019-08-11.
  13. [13]
    "NEW TRANSFERT ! Bienvenue à Jarno Libert, un jeune bruxellois de 22 ans. C'est un milieu de terrain, pure produit de l'OHL, qui a déjà effectué plus de 35 matchs en D1B. Il signe un contrat avec le RWDM pour une durée de 2 ans avec option 👊🏽 WELCOME !" [NEW TRANSFER ! Welcome to Jarno Libert, a young Brussels player of 22. He's a midfielder, youth product of OHL, who has already played more than 35 matches in division 1B. He signs a contract with RWDM for two years with option to extend 👊🏽 WELCOME !] (in French). facebook.com. 2019-08-20.
  14. [14]
    "Jenthe Mertens kiest voor Nederlands avontuur" [Jenthe Mertens chooses Dutch adventure] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-09-02. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  15. [15]
    "CONTRATAÇÃO REDOUANE KERROUCHE" [HIRING REDOUANE KERROUCHE] (in Portuguese). cdaves.pt. 2019-08-25. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  16. [16]
    "OHL strikt jong talent" [OHL signs young talent] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-08-28. Archived from the original on 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  17. [17]
    "TUČIĆ BO MREŽO TRESEL V BELGIJI" [TUČIĆ TO MAKE THE NET SHAKE IN BELGIUM] (in Slovenian). nkrudarvelenje.com. 2019-09-02.
  18. [18]
    "Doelpuntenmachine strijkt neer in Leuven" [Goalscoring machine lands in Leuven] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2019-09-02. Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  19. [19]
    "Borges Transferred to OH Leuven". Forge FC. 2020-01-22.
  20. [20]
    "OH Leuven leent linksvoetige centrale verdediger" [OH Leuven loans left-footed central defender] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2020-01-31.
  21. [21]
    "OH Leuven leent linksvoetige centrale verdediger" [OH Leuven loans left-footed central defender] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2020-01-31.
  22. [22]
    "Croizet terug naar oude nest" [Croizet returns to old nest] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2020-02-05. Archived from the original on 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  23. [23]
    "Hendriks op uitleenbasis naar Cambuur" [Hendriks on loan to Cambuur] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2020-01-31.
  24. [24]
    "Thamsatchanan uitgeleend aan Sapporo" [Thamsatchanan loaned to Sapporo] (in Dutch). ohleuven.com. 2020-02-08. Archived from the original on 2020-02-18. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  25. [25]
    "OHL moet forfaitnederlaag tegen Union vermijden voor groene tafel" [OHL to avoid forfeit score defeat against Union at judges' table] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  26. [26]
    "OHL-Union wordt niet herspeeld, Union wint met forfaitcijfers" [OHL-Union will not be replayed, Union wins with 0–5 forfeit scoreline] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  27. [27]
    "BAS beslist: stroompannematch OHL-Union moet toch herspeeld" [BAS decides: halted match OHL-Union to be replayed after all] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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