Beerschot started the season full of optimism and drive after getting promotion and in Hernan Losada had an exciting and committed manager.
The start could hardly have been better for the Purple and Whites as they stunned champions Brugge to claim a 1:0 in August and looked like a swashbuckling, care-free outfit that was ready to take the game to their opponent, led by the sensational Raphael Holzhauser.
The newcomers continued to be the most entertaining team in the league as the season went on, regularly scoring five or six goals a game, but their defensive shortcomings started to become too much of an issue as well. A heavy loss away at Gent and then a narrow defeat to rivals Antwerp in a goalfest meant that the team started to lose some ground at the top end of the table.
Yet, Losada was hardly in the mood to change the early tone and a dramatic 3:2 win at Mechelen in November put the team onto the top of the table for a while.
However, things started to turn for the worse after that as a series of defeats dented the confidence and suddenly the goals began to dry up. Then came the hammer blow of Losada leaving for USA to join DC United in late January. His assistant Will Still took caretaker charge and needed some time to restore belief and confidence in the ranks.
He had a few good results but there was too inconsistency and a few close games, especially a 2:1 home loss to Oostende with a round left, meant that the play-offs were just out of reach for Beerschot.
That should not take away from how positive the season was as a whole as the team established themselves as a real force to be reckoned with in their first campaign back after a long time and could become even stronger next season.
