Initially it was known as the Belgian First Amateur Division, but due to the negative connotation of the word amateur the league was renamed to Belgian National Division 1 from the 2019–20 season onwards.
Then, from the 2024–25 season, a split was made into two separate divisions, with the teams holding a Flemish license and those playing with a Francophone license now playing in separate divisions within the league.
Originally, the season consisted of a regular round-robin tournament followed by promotion play-offs for the top four teams, with normally only one team gaining promotion to the Challenger Pro League.
Regarding relegation, the bottom three teams were automatically demoted, while the team finishing one place above required to take part in the relegation playoffs together with three teams from the Belgian Division 2, with only the playoff winner obtaining a spot in the following season's Belgian National Division 1.
[2] Following the split into two divisions from the 2024–25 season, the Flemish VV division will play a round-robin tournament of 38 matches without play-offs, while the Francophone ACFF division will play 22 round-robin matches after which the league will split into two halves, with the top six clubs battling for promotion and the bottom six clubs playing to avoid relegation.