Entire Belgian Pro League bizarrely ends calendar year with different manager

Ivan Leko (L) and Thorsten Fink shake hands before the Jupiler Pro League game between Genk and Genk on November 9th
Ivan Leko (L) and Thorsten Fink shake hands before the Jupiler Pro League game between Genk and Genk on November 9thČTK / Belga Press / MAARTEN STRAETEMANS

The Belgian Jupiler Pro League will bizarrely end the calendar year with 18 different managers than it started 2025 with after KRC Genk fired Thorsten Fink on Monday.

Genk fired Fink after a string of bad results that left the four-time champions in a disappointing seventh place. The 58-year-old Fink was one of the longest-serving managers in the Belgian top tier after starting the Genk job in the summer of 2024.

New faces everywhere

Thorsten Fink's departure was the latest in a long line of managerial changes in the Belgian Pro League and makes for a bizarre fact: besides the managers of promoted sides RAAL La Louviere and Zulte Waregem, all 18 managers who started 2025 at the helm of a Belgian Pro League team have either left or been fired.

Ahead of the season, Danijel Milicevic (Gent), Chris Coleman (OH Leuven), Timmy Simons (Westerlo), Ivan Leko (Standard Liege), Andries Ulderink (Royal Antwerp) and Bernd Storck (Cercle Brugge) all left or were dismissed in June.

Genk fired Thorsten Fink after 18 months in charge
Genk fired Thorsten Fink after 18 months in chargeJeffrey Gaens / PsnewZ / Profimedia

During the current season, Standard Liege started the carousel in August by firing Mircea Rednic after just five games in charge. Vincent Euvrard (Dender), Sebastien Pocognoli (Union Saint-Gilloise), David Hubert (OH Leuven), Stef Wils (Royal Antwerp), Nicky Hayen (Club Brugge), Ivan Leko (Gent), Rik De Mil (Sporting Charleroi) and Thorsten Fink all followed.

Gent, Kortrijk, Royal Antwerp, KV Mechelen, Cercle Brugge, Anderlecht, Sint-Truidense VV, and (again) Cercle Brugge all fired their managers between January and May 2025, whilst Bernd Storck left Kortrijk for Cercle only to leave again in June, meaning all 18 teams that played in the Belgian Pro League on January 1st now have a new manager.

RAAL La Louviere's Frederic Taquin (8 years and 5 months) and Zulte Waregem's Sven Vandenbroeck (1 year and 5 months) are the league's longest-serving managers, but joined the league after winning promotion from the Challenger Pro League earlier this year.

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