AFAS Stadium (Alkmaar)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AFAS stadium
The AZ Alkmaar Stadium (2013)
The AZ Alkmaar Stadium (2013)
Earlier names

DSB Stadium (2006–2009)
AZ Stadium (2009–2010)

Data
place Stadionweg 1 1812 AZ Alkmaar , the Netherlands
NetherlandsNetherlands
Coordinates 52 ° 36 '46.1 "  N , 4 ° 44' 31.4"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 36 '46.1 "  N , 4 ° 44' 31.4"  E
owner AZ Alkmaar
opening August 4, 2006
First game 4th August 2006
AZ Alkmaar - Arsenal FC 0: 3
surface Natural grass
costs € 38 million
architect Zwarts & Jansma Architects
capacity 17,023 places
playing area 105 × 68 m
Societies)
Events
  • Games from AZ Alkmaar

The AFAS Stadion is a football stadium in the southeast of the Dutch city ​​of Alkmaar , in the province of North Holland , directly on the N9 . The AZ Alkmaar football club plays its home games in the club's own football arena . It replaced the Alkmaarderhout , in which the AZ was located from 1949 to 2006.

history

The stadium was opened on August 4, 2006 after a construction period of around one and a half years. The first match in the new stadium, a friendly against Arsenal , Alkmaar lost 3-0. The capacity is 17,000 seats, but the stadium can be expanded to 30,000 seats if necessary. The total costs amounted to 38 million euros. The plans come from Zwarts & Jansma Architects , who have already planned several new stadiums in the Netherlands. A mixture of turf and artificial turf was used for the playing surface. The stadium construction was largely financed by Dirk Scheringa , the founder and owner of DSB Bank .

In October 2009 the DSB Bank went bankrupt and was taken over by the Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank . On November 4th, the DSB Stadion logo was removed from the venue. Since then the stadium has been called the AZ Stadium . In August 2010 it was announced that AFAS ERP Software would be the new main sponsor of the association. In addition to the jersey advertising for three years, the stadium will also be renamed AFAS Stadium for at least five years .

On April 12, 2017, AZ Alkmaar bought the stadium from the previous owner Stadion Alkmaar Beheer BV . In addition to the venue, the agreement also includes the space in front of the football arena and the surrounding parking areas P1 to P7.

Fire in the stadium

During the game AZ against the Greek team from Atromitos Athens on August 29, 2013 in the playoff round of the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League , a fire broke out in the roof of the stadium. The game was initially interrupted in the 59th minute when the score was 0: 1 and later canceled for evacuation due to the heavy smoke development. The reason for this was a short circuit in the floodlight system . The fire brigade brought the fire under control and no one was injured. The rest of the playing time was made up the following morning.

Roof collapse

On August 10, 2019, parts of the stadium roof fell onto the stands on the back straight. The venue was empty and nobody was harmed. It is believed that strong gusts of wind caused the collapse. In a report, AZ Alkmaar stated that it was investigating the cause of the accident. In 2011 in the Netherlands, two people were killed and 14 others were injured in a partial roof collapse during construction work in the De Grolsch Veste of FC Twente Enschede . The stadium is currently closed. In the next few days, experts will examine the accident site. The AZ will consult with the authorities to find one or more alternative venues for the next home games. The two home games against FK Mariupol from Ukraine (qualification for the 2019/20 UEFA Europa League ) on August 15 and three days later in the league against FC Groningen took place in the Cars Jeans Stadium of ADO Den Haag , around 75 kilometers away . A first reason for the collapse was found. Welded joints in the steel structure that were too light were identified. For this reason, the AFAS stadium, with the exception of the office building in the main stand, will remain closed for an indefinite period and the AZ will have to continue to play its games in alternative stadiums. As the association reports, the Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid discovered two cracks and two suspicious spots in the intact area of ​​the steel structure during the investigation. This now had to be checked on the entire roof. An interim report was expected for the end of August. A plan for the renovation of the roof is to be drawn up with him. Experts believe it could take a year for AZ's home to be operational again. A permanent alternative location has not yet been found. The following home game of the UEFA Europa League against the Belgians from Royal Antwerp (1-1) was played on August 22nd in De Grolsch Veste in Enschede . On August 30th, a first balance of the investigations was announced at a press conference by Erik Middelkoop, director of the engineering office commissioned by the association with the investigation. As a result, connecting parts for the roof were defective. Reinforcements were missing in the construction, the welds were too weak and strong wind currents were not taken into account. The roof had already been weakened by previous storms. These planning errors in combination with the strong storm on August 10th probably led to the collapse. In addition, other construction defects were found in other parts of the building. The solar modules installed on the roof again had no influence on the accident. The AZ will not renovate the roof, but completely renew it. The club is still looking for a permanent venue for the Eredivisie. The home games of the UEFA Europa League will be played in the ADO stadium in The Hague. On September 2, 2019, the club found a provisional venue for the transition period. In addition to the Europa League games, AZ will also play its home league games in The Hague.

In mid-October, the dismantling of the roof is well advanced. The club would like to compete in their, then uncovered, home arena in December of the year. This situation is expected to continue until the end of the 2019/20 season. Since purchasing the stadium in 2017, AZ has been planning to expand the stadium. The city requires one parking space for every five visitors. With around 17,000 spectators, there are currently a total of 3400 parking spaces. With an expansion to 22,000 spaces, 1,000 new spaces would have to be created. A simultaneous expansion with the construction of the new roof would be an option. The club is currently in talks with Zwarts & Jansma Architects about the possibilities. AZ has not yet commented on the future of the football arena. More precise information can only be expected in a few months. The roof structure will be dismantled at the end of November. The home game on December 1st will be played in The Hague. The next game on December 15th against Ajax Amsterdam will take place again in the home AFAS stadium.

At the club's New Year's reception, General Manager Robert Eenhoorn announced that the stadium should have a roof again for the 2020/21 season. The work is to be carried out during the summer break. In the medium term, the venue is to be expanded to include 2,500 to 5,000 seats by adding two grandstands. A second rank is out of the question. Initially, the new roofing has priority in the planning of AZ Alkmaar.

On May 22, 2020, the club published the plans for the new roof designed by Zwarts & Jansma Architects. A steel arch is supposed to hold the roof above the main stand. On the back straight and the stands behind the goal, 20 cantilevered steel pillars, similar to those at Mönchengladbach Borussia-Park , are being built. However, the structure of these should be more massive and stable than before. The new roof will protrude four meters further into the middle. In order to provide enough sunlight at the edges of the pitch, parts of the cover should be transparent . The height of the roofs of the two tiers behind the gates will be aligned with that of the opposite stand. This would provide space for a future expansion of the AFAS stadium. The new LED - floodlight is on the inner edge of the roof, instead of on poles mounted to the nocturnal light pollution to be reduced. The first preparatory work has started. Due to the game ban until September of that year, the executing company BAM Bouw en Techniek has a longer period without restrictions. After that, work would continue while the game was running.

On July 30, 2020, the first component of the future roof arch above the main stand was delivered with a special transport. The construction of the new canopy begins. The steel structure, which is 170 meters long and 17 meters high, weighs 2,400 tons. When it is completed, it will be lifted and installed on the new supports in the corners of the west stand. The corners are being dismantled to make room for the foundation and pillars of the new roof. The offices in the north corner will be demolished, followed by the offices in the south corner. As the new foundations will be outside the stadium, there will only be minor structural changes to the stadium. The top rows of seats on the back grandstands have been removed so that the tiers are the same height. Further rows of seats are added at the corners in the east. More rows are added, bringing all south-east-north sections to the same height of 32 rows. The middle east section is currently considerably higher. With the adjustment, 2500 to 3000 seats are to be gained, if one receives the approval for it from the city. On the south stand, two areas will be equipped with 1,100 standing places ( safe standing ). So far there have been 924.

gallery

  • AFAS Stadium during the construction phase, February 2006

  • Side view of the AFAS stadium, November 2007

and display information about the image
Panoramic view of the interior from December 2007

Web links

Commons : AFAS Stadion  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Customers storm bank - central bank has to intervene ( Memento from October 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ AZ ( Memento from August 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch)
  3. ↑ Jeroen de Laat: AZ spits voortaan in the 'AFAS stadium'. In: Elf Voetbal. August 12, 2010, accessed January 13, 2014 (Dutch).
  4. ↑ AZ koopt AFAS Stadium. In: az.nl. AZ Alkmaar , April 13, 2017, accessed September 3, 2019 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ Fire in the stadium - game abandoned in Alkmaar. In: welt.de . dpa / zip sam, August 29, 2013, accessed on August 12, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Europa League Qual. 2013/2014 »Playoffs» AZ Alkmaar - Atromitos 0: 2. In: weltfussball.de. Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Alkmaar's stadium roof collapsed. In: sport1.de . SID , August 10, 2019, accessed August 10, 2019 .
  8. ↑ The cause of the accident in Enschede clarified. In: stadionwelt.de. August 18, 2011, accessed August 11, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Update of the AFAS stadium. In: az.nl. AZ Alkmaar , August 10, 2019, accessed August 11, 2019 (Dutch).
  10. ↑ AZ wijkt uit naar The Hague. In: az.nl. AZ Alkmaar , August 12, 2019, accessed August 12, 2019 (Dutch).
  11. ↑ The stadium in Alkmaar remains closed. In: stadionwelt.de. August 19, 2019, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Planning errors and storms caused the roof to collapse in the Alkmaar Stadium. In: rp-online.de . rent / SID , August 30, 2019, accessed on August 31, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Thuisduels AZ voorlopig in The Hague. In: az.nl. AZ Alkmaar , September 2, 2019, accessed September 4, 2019 (Dutch).
  14. ↑ Roof in Alkmaar will be removed as far as possible. In: stadionwelt.de. October 11, 2019, accessed October 11, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Roof in Alkmaar completely removed. In: stadionwelt.de. November 25, 2019, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  16. ↑ AFAS Stadium will get a new roof this summer. In: stadionwelt.de. January 16, 2020, accessed August 4, 2020 .
  17. ^ The Netherlands: AZ Alkmaar reveal new roof. In: stadiumdb.com. May 22, 2020, accessed on May 26, 2020 .
  18. ↑ AZ accord with BAM over nieuw dak. In: az.nl. AZ Alkmaar , May 22, 2020, accessed May 26, 2020 (Dutch).
  19. ↑ Alkmaar: Roof megatruss assembly begins. In: stadiumdb.com. August 2, 2020, accessed on August 4, 2020 .