AZ Alkmaar

AZ Alkmaar
Basic data
Surname	Alkmaar Zaanstreek
Seat	Alkmaar , the Netherlands
founding	May 10, 1967
Colours	Red White
president	René Neelissen
Website	az.nl
First soccer team
Head coach	Arne slot
Venue	AFAS stadium
Places	17,023
league	Eredivisie
2019/20	2nd place
home Away Alternatively

Alkmaar Zaanstreek , known as AZ Alkmaar (pronunciation: [ˈaː ˈzɛt ˈɑlkmaːr] ), is a football club from the Dutch city ​​of Alkmaar and the Zaanstreek . It was created in 1967 from the merger of the clubs A lkmaar '54 and FC Z aanstreek. The original founding name AZ'67 was changed in 1986 to the current name AZ .

General

The team colors of the club are red and white. While the chest and back areas of the jerseys are red, the sleeves are raised in white. Pants and socks are also kept in white.

history

1954–1967: Origins and Development

The Alkmaar'54 Club was founded on April 13, 1954 . The beginnings of today's club lie in him. This was subordinate to the Nederlandse Beroeps Voetbalbond (NBVB). The NBVB existed parallel to the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbal Bond , but was not recognized by the latter. On August 14, 1954, the team played its first professional game and won 3-0 against Venlo. At the end of the first season, the club finished fifth in the Eerste Klasse C . At the time, this league was one of four classes in which the first one could qualify for the championship elimination. For the following season the competition mode was reformed and the championship participants were played in two leagues; The first two of each class qualified. All teams of the two seasons from rank ten should then relegate to the newly created Eerste Divisie for the 1956/57 season . As eleventh in the table, Alkmaar'54 also suffered relegation. In the first second division season 1957/58 , the team earned second place in the Eerste Divisie Season A with nine points behind ADO Den Haag , the only promoted next to B-class winner Blauw-Wit Amsterdam . In the following two years, the team did not come close to the promotion places. It was not until 1959/60 that he was promoted to the Dutch upper house in '54 . Already after the end of the first comeback year Alkmaar rose again immediately and then had to relegate to the Tweede Divisie after the end of the game year 1961/62 because of a reorganization of the second division . It was not until the end of the 1963/64 season that the team became champions in the lowest professional league in the Netherlands and was able to rise again to the Eerste Divisie. In 1964, FC Zaanstreek was founded, which came seventh in the Tweede Divisie in 1964/65 and rose only one year later. Both clubs went into the second division season 1966/67 . While Zaanstreek achieved seventh place, Alkmaar only reached twelfth place. On June 30, 1967, both teams merged and merged to form the AZ'67 (Alkmaar-Zaanstreek 1967).

1967-1996: Alkmaar Zaanstreek

With new internal structures, the AZ went into the Eerste Divisie in 1967/68 . Behind Holland Sport placed the club on the second league rank, which meant promotion to the Eredivisie. There they only secured relegation after the relegation games. In the following year , the club played against relegation. After all, it was only enough to win three times and a total of 15 points. With 76 goals conceded, the club had the worst defense in the league. Only the HFC Haarlem was worse and last. Nevertheless, the club had to relegate to the Eerste Divisie . Immediately they were promoted again in '67 and in 1972/73 they also stayed in the league. The Eredivisie season 1973/74 Alkmaar then finished in seventh place, making them the best season performance in the club's history. In the following year , the team even earned fifth place, which could be repeated in 1975/76 .

During the first few years of the new club, many foreign footballers were under contract, which brought financial problems for the club, the brothers Cees and Klaas Molenaar saved the club and secured financial support. In addition to them, other sponsors were ready to support the association. Eventually the situation stabilized and the team entered the league with ever greater ambitions. The season 1976/77 the AZ'67 was third behind champions Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven . This is the first time the club has qualified for the UEFA Cup . There it came against the Red Boys Differdange from Luxembourg for the first international competitive game for Alkmaar. They finally prevailed with 11: 1 and 5: 0 more than clearly, but then unfortunately failed after 1: 1 and 1: 1 on penalties at FC Barcelona . Things went well again in the league . The team achieved third place again and moved into the final of the KNVB Cup . On May 5, 1978 Alkmaar then played in the final against Ajax Amsterdam. A hit from AZ player Henk van Rijnsoever decided the game, so that the club was able to win the national cup for the first time in club history . The team was thus a participant in the European Cup Winners' Cup 1978/79 , but was eliminated in the first round at the English representative Ipswich Town . In 1979/80 the team reached second place - a result that has never been achieved before. As a result, Alkmaar was qualified for the 1980/81 UEFA Cup . There, the team of the German coach Georg Keßler reached the final via the Red Boys Differdange , PFK Lewski Sofia , FK Radnički Niš , KSC Lokeren and FC Sochaux , where they met again on Ipswich Town. After a 0: 3 in the first leg under the direction of GDR referee Adolf Prokop , the team was forced in the second leg on May 20, 1981. Although they scored four of their own with goals from Kurt Welzl , John Metgod , Pier Tol and Jos Jonker , they also had to accept two goals, so that the 4-2 home win brought nothing and Ipswich won the UEFA Cup.

In the league it was also very successful for Alkmaar. The club suffered only one defeat, and for the first time was able to secure the national championship. With a total of 60 points, the team had twelve more than runner-up Ajax Amsterdam. In addition, with 101 goals scored the best attack and with only 30 goals conceded the best defense in the league.

With the success in the KNVB Cup, the double was also achieved. In the final on May 28, 1981 in Amsterdam, the AZ-Kicker beat the local club Ajax 3-1. Alkmaar's goalscorers were Ronald Spelbos , Pier Tol and Kristen Nygaard . In the meantime, Gerald Vanenburg was able to equalize for Ajax. By winning the championship, the club took part in the European Cup for the first time . After a 3: 1 and a 1: 0 against Start Kristiansand , Alkmaar was eliminated in the second round against Liverpool (2: 2 and 2: 3). In a national comparison, the club was able to defend the KNVB Cup, in the league it was only enough to rank third. In the final of the national cup, Alkmaar lost the first leg against FC Utrecht 1-0, but turned the tide with a 5-1 return win.

In 1982/83 the club then slumped into the midfield of the league and was only tenth. Since the Molenaar brothers withdrew from the club, it came to a cut in the red and whites. A long dry spell followed, which in 1988 led to relegation to the second division . There, the club spanned a long shadowy existence until it was promoted to the Eredivisie in 1996.

1996–2010: development since the resurgence

The businessman Dirk Scheringa played a major role in this “comeback”, and he wanted to restructure the club and restore it to its former strength. However, the ascent was followed by an immediate descent. But the team recovered quickly and came back for the 1998/99 season. Under Gerard van der Lem they managed to stay in the league. Since the 2001/02 season , the AZ managed a steady increase in performance under the renowned Dutch coach Co Adriaanse , which led the club back into the UEFA Cup for the first time in 2004 .

In the 2004/05 season , AZ Alkmaar made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, where they narrowly failed at Sporting Lisbon . In 2005 Alkmaar reached third place in the honor division, a year later the runner-up championship. At the beginning of the 2005/06 season , the former Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal replaced Co Adriaanse as head coach.

In the 2006/07 season , the AZ reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, in which he had to admit defeat to the German representative Werder Bremen . In the championship, Alkmaar ended up in third place after being at the top of the table before the last matchday. The AZ also lost to Ajax Amsterdam in the playoffs for the Champions League place and in the cup final . In the end, the fourth UEFA Cup qualification in a row remained. AZ moved into the group stage with a 0-0 home win and a 1-0 away win against FC Paços de Ferreira . On December 20, 2007, the first UEFA Cup home game in the history of Alkmaar was lost when they had to admit defeat to Everton 2: 3. This was the first home defeat in this competition since the first appearance in 1977.

The following season was bad for the red and whites. In the league only the eleventh place was occupied and thus the qualification for a European competition was missed. In the UEFA Cup, after one win, one draw and two defeats in Group A, they were eliminated early. Against the eventual winner of the tournament, Zenit St. Petersburg , Louis van Gaal's squad scored 1-1. After this overall poor performance in the 2007/08 season , van Gaal announced his departure for the next season in April 2008, but made a decision shortly thereafter.

The 2008/09 season did not start promisingly for AZ with two defeats against NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag . With a 1-0 win against the champions of the previous season, PSV Eindhoven , Alkmaar started a memorable run on matchday three and remained unbeaten for 28 matchdays in a row. From the 12th to the 22nd matchday, Louis van Gaal's team didn't concede a single goal. Despite a 1: 2 defeat against Vitesse Arnheim , AZ Alkmaar was able to celebrate the premature win of the championship and thus the second championship title in the club's history on matchday 31, as the pursuers Twente Enschede and Ajax Amsterdam also lost their games. Alkmaar also qualified for the first time for the UEFA Champions League by winning the championship .

After winning the title, coach van Gaal announced that he wanted to leave the club. He was drawn to the German record champions FC Bayern Munich . His office was filled for the following season by Ronald Koeman , who had coached the Spanish club Valencia CF until then ; however, he was released in early December 2009 "for disappointing results". He was followed by Dick Advocaat , who remained coach of the Belgian national team . He should initially look after AZ until the end of the season.

The season 2009/2010 was able to finish in 5th place Alkmaar. The club was thus qualified for the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League .

2010 – today: Current development

For the 2010/11 season , Gertjan Verbeek was signed as the new coach after Advocaat announced his move to the Russian national team. The coach had previously looked after Heracles Almelo and placed them in sixth place. With Dirk Marcellis , Erik Falkenburg , Kolbeinn Sigþórsson and Charlison Benschop , ambitious players were signed to rejuvenate the squad. After a bad start and only three points from the first five games, the team had a streak of five wins in a row. At the winter break, the club finally placed sixth, six points behind the then front runner PSV Eindhoven . For the second half of the season, PSV, Ajax Amsterdam and FC Twente Enschede stood out from their pursuers, leaving AZ only one place to qualify for the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League . There they were eliminated from Anzhi Makhachkala in the barrage . A 0: 1 first leg defeat away from the team around Samuel Eto'o was followed by a 0: 5 second leg defeat in front of their own audience. While the 2011/12 season ended with a fourth place in the championship, in the 2012/13 season it was only tenth in the final table. However, by beating PSV Eindhoven in the final, AZ won the KNVB Cup for the fourth time in the club's history and qualified for the play-off round of the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League . Coach Verbeek was sacked after the home game against PSV (2-1) on September 29, 2013. From October 16, 2013 Dick Advocaat acted again as trainer of AZ Alkmaar. The club reached the quarter-finals in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League with a 1-0 home win and a draw in the second leg against Anzhi Makhachkala . The football club was eliminated there against Benfica Lisbon after a 0-1 home defeat on April 3, 2014 and the second leg on April 10, 2014, in which he lost 2-0. At the end of the 2013/14 season, AZ presented Marco van Basten as the new head coach, who, however, retired from this position in September 2014 due to health problems and now only acts as an assistant coach. Then Alex Pastoor took over on an interim basis for three days, before Dennis Haar then trained the team for eleven days. On September 29, 2014, AZ Alkmaar introduced John van den Brom as the new head coach. With 216 games on the sideline, he is the coach with the most games as coach for AZ.

On July 1, 2019, his assistant coach Arne Slot took over the team.

useful information

player

• Alkmaar has been the top scorer five times: in 1979 (34 goals) and 1980 (27 goals) it was Kees Kist , in 2009 Mounir El Hamdaoui (23 goals), in 2016 Vincent Janssen (27 goals) and in 2018 Alireza Jahanbakhsh was the most successful goalscorer in the Eredivisie (21 goals).
• The first AZ goal scorer in the European Cup, the forerunner of the UEFA Champions League , was Jan Peters . In the 3-1 away win at the Norwegian club Start Kristiansand on September 16, 1981, he scored in the 16th minute for his team. Shortly thereafter, Peters also scored the 2-0, making him the first double scorer for Alkmaar in this competition.
• The most successful AZ attacker in the European Cup is Kees Kist, who scored three goals in the 1981/82 season . With 18 goals, he also holds the record for the most goals in all international competitive games for AZ. Also in the league he scored the most for Alkmaar with 212 goals.
• The most league games for the club made Michael Buskermolen , who was used a total of 399 times. With 71 other games in the KNVB Cup and in international comparisons, he also holds the record for most competitive games overall. His compatriot Kew Jaliens , however, completed more matches in international tournaments; he holds the record with 45 games.
• The most expensive transfer in the club's history was Mounir El Hamdaoui, who was brought to Alkmaar from Willem II Tilburg in the summer of 2007 for 7 million euros . He is followed by the Italian Graziano Pellè , for whom 6.5 million euros have been transferred to US Lecce , and Mousa Dembélé , for whom the club has spent 4 million euros.
• Those responsible for AZ achieved the highest surplus with the sale of Jozy Altidore to AFC Sunderland (10 million euros), Adam Maher to PSV Eindhoven (8 million euros), Joris Mathijsen to Hamburger SV (7 million euros) , Mounir El Hamdaoui (between 5 and 7 million euros) and Jan Kromkamp , who was sold to FC Villarreal in Spain for 6.5 million euros . Other actors were Demy de Zeeuw (for 6.5 million euros to Ajax Amsterdam ) and Danny Koevermans (for 6.2 million euros to PSV Eindhoven ).

Games

• The first game in the European Cup , the forerunner of the UEFA Champions League , played Alkmaar on September 16, 1981 at the Norwegian representative Start Kristiansand . The match was won 3-1.
• The biggest win in Dutch professional football was for AZ in the 1997/98 season against Heracles Almelo . In the Eerste Divisie you beat the guest 8-0.
• Most goals in an international competitive match came in the 11-1 UEFA Cup victory against Red Boys Differdange from Luxembourg.
• Also with ten goals difference, but without conceding a goal, AZ won the KNVB Cup in September 2006 against an amateur team from Bennekom.
• The biggest defeat in the league competition was set for the AZ team in the 1986/87 season when they lost 8-0 to Feyenoord Rotterdam .

Stadion

Home of AZ, the AFAS Stadium

Until the 2005/06 season, the team played in the Alkmaarderhout stadium . Since 2006 AZ has been playing its games in the newly built DSB Stadium, which opened in August 2006 and can accommodate 17,000 (expandable to 30,000) spectators . The cost was 38 million euros. Club President Dirk Scheringa is hoping to expand the building to up to 40,000 visitors. In October 2009 the DSB Bank went bankrupt. From November 2009 to August 2010 the sports facility was named AZ Stadium . Since then, AZ has a new main sponsor called AFAS Software, so the stadium is called AFAS Stadion . On August 29, 2013, the game against Atromitos Athens in the play-off round of the Europa League had to be canceled because a fire broke out in the stadium.

When the roof of the AFAS stadium collapsed in August 2019, they moved to the Cars Jeans stadium in The Hague, just under 80 km away . League, cup and Europa League games were played here.

Since December 15, 2019, the AFAS stadium has been playing regularly again. The stadium roof is to be renewed in summer 2020. The approval of the city of Alkmaar has already been granted.

successes

• Dutch champion : 1981 , 2009
• Dutch Cup Winner : 1978 , 1981, 1982 , 2013
• Dutch Super Cup winner : 2009
• UEFA Cup : finalist 1981
• Master of the Eerste Divisie : 1960 (together with GVAV ), 1996, 1998
• Promotion to the Eredivisie : 1967 (2nd place), 1972 (2nd place)
• Master of the Tweede Divisie : 1964

Eredivisie squad 2019/20

Status: January 3, 2020

No. position Surname 1 TW Marco Bizot 2 FROM Jonas Svensson 3 FROM Pantelis Hatzidiakos 4th FROM Ron Vlaar 5 FROM Thomas Ouwejan 6th MF Fredrik Midtsjø 7th ST Calvin Stengs 8th MF Teun Koopmeiners 9 ST Myron Boadu 10 MF Dani de Wit 11 ST Oussama Idrissi 14th ST Ferdy Druijf 15th FROM Owen Wijndal 16 TW Jasper Schendelaar

No. position Surname 17th MF Zakaria Aboukhlal 20th MF Jordy Clasie 21st MF Kenzo Goudmijn 22nd TW Rody de Boer 23 FROM Léon Bergsma 26th FROM Yukinari Sugawara 28 ST Albert Guðmundsson 29 FROM Joris Kramer 30th FROM Stijn Wuytens 54 ST Fred Friday FROM Ramon Leeuwin ST Bjørn Maars Johnsen MF Håkon Evjen

Known players

• Michael Buskermolen (1990–2006), 399 games for AZ Alkmaar
• Phillip Cocu (1988–1990), 101 caps for the Netherlands
• Louis van Gaal (1986–1987), later national coach of the Netherlands
• Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (1990-1993)
• Kees Kist (1972–1981), Golden Shoe Winner 1979
• Denny Landzaat (2003-2006)
• Bert van Marwijk (1975–1979), later national coach of the Netherlands
• Joris Mathijsen (2004–2005), later player with Hamburger SV
• Barry Opdam (1996-2008), 307 games for AZ Alkmaar
• Shota Arweladze (2005-2007), record goal scorer of the Georgian national football team
• Simon Cziommer (2006-2008)

Alkmaar's trainer

After renaming to AZ in 1986, there have been 13 coaches in twelve years. In 1997 the post was filled twice with Hans de Koning and Martin Haar . Louis van Gaal and Georg Keßler are record holders in this office at the age of four. This applies to both the AZ and the association since Alkmaar was founded in '54. Both are also the only coaches to date to have won the Dutch championship. Since Keßler's departure in 1982, the team has only been led by Dutch coaches.

Term of office Nat. Coach Alkmaar '54 1954-1956 Gerrit van Wijhe 1956-1958 Kick smit 1958-1960 Ludwig Veg 1960-1961 Piet de Wolff 1961–1962 Bonnie Bult 1962-1963 Arie Rentenaar 1963-1965 Ludwig Veg 1965-1967 Barry Hughes

Term of office Nat. Trainer AZ'67 1967-1968 Lesley Talbot 1968-1969 Wim Blokland 1969-1971 Robert Heinz 1971-1973 Cor van der Hart 1973-1976 Joop Brand 1976-1977 Hans Kraay sr. 1977 Jan Notermans 1977-1988 Cor van der Hart 1978-1982 Georg Keßler 1982-1983 Hans Eijkenbroek 1983-1985 Piet de Visser 1985-1986 Han Berger

Term of office Nat. Trainer AZ 1986-1989 Hans Eijkenbroek 1989-1990 Hans van Doorneveld 1990-1993 Henk Wullems 1993-1995 Piet Schrijvers 1995-1997 Theo Vonk 1997 Hans de Koning & Martin Haar 1997-1999 Willem van Hanegem 1999-2000 Gerard van der Lem 2000-2002 Henk van Stee 2002-2005 Co Adriaanse 2005-2009 Louis van Gaal 2009 Ronald Koeman 2009-2010 Dick Advocaat 2010-2013 Gertjan Verbeek 2013-2014 Dick Advocaat 2014 Marco van Basten 2014-2019 John van den Brom since 2019 Arne slot

More teams

Women's team

season	league	space	comment
2007/08	Eredivisie	1	1st championship title
2008/09	Eredivisie	1	2nd championship title
2009/10	Eredivisie	1	3rd championship title
2010/11	Eredivisie	3	Cup winners

The club has also had its own women's team since the 2007/08 season . This became champion three times in the first three years after the introduction of the Eredivisie for women . During the fourth season, the club announced that it would not provide a team for the Ehrendivion in the next year due to financial considerations. The season ended in third place, the team even won the Dutch Cup for the first time.

cooperation

The Telstar Club , currently represented in the Eerste Divisie , is in cooperation with the AZ. The club regularly receives young players who can gather game practice and develop themselves there. The former AZ youth trainer Marcel Bout is responsible for the coordination among each other . Current players loaned from AZ may include a. Furdjel Narsingh , Wouter de Vogel , Marek Kaljumäe and Kevin Brands . One player who came to Telstar in the past through the cooperation is the Finn Joona Toivio , who later became a professional footballer .

Web links

• Official homepage of AZ Alkmaar (English, Dutch)
• Profile on fussballdaten.de
• Profile on weltfussball.de
• Profile on transfermarkt.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kicker.de
2. ↑ Alkmaar: "After the separation from Koeman - Advocaat is allowed to AZ" , kicker, December 7, 2009.
3. ↑ kicker.de Verbeek follows Advocaat published on April 22, 2010.
4. ↑ Advocaat nieuwe hoofdtrainer AZ , club homepage AZ of 16 October, 2013.
5. ^ AZ continues with a draw against Anji, official UEFA website , March 20, 2014.
6. ↑ Benfica's Salvio and Rodrigo take care of AZ, official UEFA website , April 10, 2014.
7. ↑ Van Basten doet stap terug bij AZ, Alex Pastoor nieuwe trainer NRC from September 16, 2014.
8. ^ AZ Alkmaar - employee history. Retrieved March 21, 2020 . 
9. ^ Arne Slot - trainer profile. Retrieved March 21, 2020 . 
10. ↑ teleboerse.de: Controversial loan seller - DSB Bank broke Article from October 19, 2009.
11. ↑ Fire under the roof: Demolition in Alkmaar Kicker online, August 30, 3013, accessed on September 30, 2013.
12. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Stadium disaster: Alkmaar moves to the stadium in The Hague - DER SPIEGEL - sport. Retrieved March 21, 2020 . 
13. ↑ AZ Alkmaar - Ajax Amsterdam, December 15, 2019 - Eredivisie - Match report. Retrieved March 21, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Update stadium: bouwvergunning. Retrieved March 21, 2020 . 
15. ↑ Spelers , az.nl.
16. ↑ AZ stops women's soccer team (Dutch) ( Memento from March 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )