Indeed, although the championship – clinched last Sunday after a 2-1 victory over chief rival FC Brugge at their Jan Breydel Stadium – was the 30th for the paars-wit, it comes after two years in which a revitalised Standard Liège had ruled the roost. For the players, staff and fans who celebrated long into the night, it simply felt like the trophy had come home.

Anderlecht coach Ariël Jacobs was carried around the pitch by his rejoicing team, but he brushed off the plaudits. "I should be the one to take the players on my shoulders," he said. "But that is not really possible.”

As expected, clashes between rival fans also broke out inside the grounds following the match, and police had to use water cannons to control the crowd. Five supporters were arrested.

The victory came at the end of a remarkable season for Belgian football. The Jupiler League had already been cut from 18 to 16 teams. But once all the sides had played each other – twice – three play-off leagues kicked off in March.

Anderlecht already headed the six-team, toptier group thanks to their regular season points (halved and rounded up before the play-offs), but their near-perfect record meant that they wrapped up the title with four more games still to play. Significantly, apart from Anderlecht (famously balanced between its Flemish and French-speaking players and fans), the other five sides in the top tier play-off were all from Flanders.

Anderlecht’s title triumph came despite key setbacks in previous games, notably when Standard’s Axel Witsel broke the leg of their Polish mainstay Marcin Wasilewski with a reckless tackle in an early match, and, more recently, when Argentine forward Nicolas Frutos retired last month at 28. But the team pulled together, building its title drive around Dutch-Moroccan playmaker Mbark Boussoufa and the exciting 16-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku.

Anderlecht remain the most decorated club in Belgian football, both in domestic competition and in Europe, where they have won five trophies including the UEFA Cup in 1983. And this League title means Anderlecht will go into next season's Champions League at the third qualifying round, which precedes the competition group stages.

• Meanwhile, Dick Advocaat has resigned as Belgium’s national team coach, just six months after he stepped into the role. Advocaat had controversially insisted on combining the job with managing Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, which led critics at the time to say that he did not take the Red Devils job seriously. Advocaat is now expected to accept the vacant post of Russian national coach.

But it means that Belgium is once again searching for a new boss. Among the names touted as a replacement are current assistant coach Marc Wilmots and former PSV Eindhoven (and Olympique de Marseille) coach Eric Gerets.