Alkmaar Zaanstreek (Dutch:[ˈɑl(ə)kmaːrˈzaːnstreːk]), better known internationally asAZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly asAZ (pronounced[aːˈzɛt]) in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professionalfootball club fromAlkmaar and theZaan district. The club plays in theEredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands.
AZ was founded on 10 May 1967 as AZ '67, the result of a merger of Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek.[1] Alkmaar '54 was founded as a professional team in April 1954 to play in the 10-team NBVB league, created because theRoyal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) refused to organize a professional league (the KNVB took over in 1955). Alkmaar '54, and by extension AZ, played the first professional match in the Netherlands: on 14 August 1954, they won 3–0 at home against Venlo '54, withKlaas Smit scoring the first and third goal.[2] After winning theEerste Divisie in 1960–61, it played one year in the Eredivisie.
FC Zaanstreek had been playing since 1910 as the Kooger Football Club (KFC). KFC had nearly become national champion in 1934 through a narrow loss toAjax in the finals.[note 1] The team became professional in 1955. In 1964 the professional part of KFC was renamed FC Zaanstreek, while the amateurs played on as KFC.
AZ 67's squad in 1968
Also in 1964, the brothers Cees and Klaas Molenaar, former players and trainers for KFC and owners of a growing appliance store chain, sought to create a powerful football team in Zaanstreek by merging the two local professional teams: KFC and Zaanlandsche Football Club. After the ZFC leadership thwarted this attempt, the Molenaars successfully merged FC Zaanstreek with Alkmaar '54 in 1967. FC Zaanstreek had finished 7th and Alkmaar '54 12th in1966–67 Eerste Divisie. The team would be based in Alkmaar, though the second team originally trained and played inKoog aan de Zaan.[1][4]
Partially through the hiring of expensive foreign players, the new club soon acquired large debts. In 1972, the Molenaar brothers bailed it out and invested heavily in the club, to the point that AZ '67 were successful in the late 1970s and early '80s, regularly playing European football from 1977 to 1982 while also winning threeKNVB Cups over that period.
After four close league campaigns, AZ finally becameDutch champions in1981, becoming the only team other than the "big three" of Ajax,Feyenoord andPSV to do so in a 44-year period spanning from 1965 to 2009 (when AZ once again won the league title). They won the title with overwhelming power, winning 27 of 34 matches and only losing once, while scoring a club record 101 goals and conceding just 30. That same season, AZ reached thefinal of the UEFA Cup, losing 5–4 on aggregate toIpswich Town. The next year, in theEuropean Cup, they lost in the second round 3–2 on aggregate toLiverpool.
Georg Keßler was AZ's manager over most of these years (1978–82), while star players included:Kees Kist, the club's highest ever goalscorer with 212 goals and the first ever Dutchman to win theEuropean Golden Boot in 1979 when he scored 34 goals in a season;Jan Peters, who played 120 matches for AZ during this period scoring 30 goals from midfield; andHugo Hovenkamp, who played 239 matches in defence for AZ from 1975 to 1983, as well as receiving 31 caps for theNetherlands national team from 1977 to 1983 and playing each match inUEFA Euro 1980 while an AZ player. Additional stars includedJohn Metgod, who spent six years at AZ playing 195 matches as a defender, scoring 26 goals including a goal against Ipswich Town in the final of the UEFA Cup. Like Hovenkamp, Metgod was also included in the Dutch squad for Euro 1980. Meanwhile, Danish forwardKristen Nygaard spent ten years at AZ, scoring 104 goals in 363 matches between 1972 and 1982.
Co-ownerCees Molenaar died in 1979. AZ's fortunes deteriorated after his brother, Klaas Molenaar, left the club in 1985. After several mid-table finishes in previous seasons, AZ was relegated in 1988 from theEredivisie, ending the season on 28 points from 34 matches and falling to theEerste Divisie due to the superior goal difference ofRoda JC. This relegation was significant since it occurred just seven years after the club's historic domestic double and marked the end of AZ's first period of success in Dutch football. Following this, AZ spent much of the next decade in the second tier, struggling to find a return to the top flight.
The involvement of businessman Dirk Scheringa in the mid-1990s marked the revival of the club as AZ returned to the Eredivisie, winning the1997-98 Eerste Divisie title. The club achieved consecutive finishes around the middle positions in the league until ending up in third place in the2004-05 Eredivisie season, AZ's highest position for 23 years. In the summer of 2006, the club moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium,AZ Stadion.
Despite playing strongly for the majority of the 2006–07 season, AZ's season ended in disappointment. First, entering the last matchday of the2006–07 Eredivisie season, AZ led PSV and Ajax on goal difference at the top of the league table, but ended up third after losing their last match against 16th placed teamExcelsior, AZ played with ten men for 80 minutes. Additionally, AZ then lost theKNVB Cup final to Ajax 8–7 after a penalty shoot-out, while also falling to Ajax over two play-off matches for participation in theChampions League. After the season, key players likeTim de Cler,Danny Koevermans andShota Arveladze left the team.
A remarkable run ended in the 2007–08 season: after AZ lost a group stage match againstEverton (3–2) in theUEFA Cup, the club's unbeaten run of 32 home matches in European competitions – lasting from 1977 to 2007 – ended. AZ had a poor season, suffering elimination in the first round of the KNVB Cup and the group stage of the UEFA Cup, as well as finishing the2007–08 Eredivisie in a disappointing 11th place. Towards the latter stages of the season, in March 2008, AZ managerLouis van Gaal had initially tendered his resignation, but after protests the players and directors, he rescinded his resignation.
The2008–09 season had an unpromising start after two opening defeats againstNAC Breda andADO Den Haag. However, starting with a 1–0 victory over defending league champions PSV, AZ did not lose a match in its next 28 matches, including a run of 11-straight matches where AZ did not concede an opposition goal. Three weeks before the end of the season, AZ became Eredivisie champions, edging nearest title rivalsTwente and Ajax comfortably. This was a historic achievement for the club as this was the first title-winning season for 28 years, and it also meant a return to theUEFA Champions League.
Being league champions, AZ qualified for theChampions League for only the second time. It was drawn into a group alongsideArsenal FC,Standard Liège andOlympiacos but only took four points from six matches and finished bottom of their group.
For the 2009–10 season,Ronald Koeman succeeded Louis van Gaal, who had departed to manageBayern Munich after leading AZ to the championship. Koeman was officially hired on 17 May 2009, but on 5 December, AZ announced he was no longer in charge of the club after losing 7 of his first 16 matches. FormerRangers andZenit Saint Petersburg managerDick Advocaat took over for the remainder of the season. Under Advocaat, AZ achieved solid results and secured European football for the next season.
For the 2010–11 season, AZ appointedGertjan Verbeek as its new manager. They finished the2010–11 Eredivisie in fourth place, thus securingEuropa League football for the next season, while in theKNVB Cup, AZ reached the last eight, where they were beaten by rivals Ajax by a 1–0 scoreline. AZ also finished third in theirEuropa League group, thus failing to qualifying for the competition's knockout round.
On 21 December 2011, during the quarter-finals of the2011–12 KNVB Cup, a 19-year-old Ajax fan invaded theAmsterdam Arena pitch in the 36th minute with Ajax winning 1–0, attacking AZ goalkeeperEsteban Alvarado.[5][6] The fan slipped and Alvarado kicked the fan twice, prompting the referee to issue the goalkeeper a red card. Following this, AZ manager Gertjan Verbeek ordered his players to leave the pitch for the dressing room in protest.[7] The match was later played on 19 January 2012, with Alvarado's red card rescinded; AZ won 3–2.[8]
In September 2013, just one day after emphatically beating PSV, at the time theleague leaders, Verbeek was dismissed as first team manager by the club due to "a lack of chemistry" between management and players.[9] He was replaced by Dick Advocaat for the remainder of the season until a permanent replacement could be found. Advocaat took AZ to the semi-finals of theKNVB Cup, the quarter-finals of theEuropa League and eighth in the league, ultimately losing toGroningen in the Europa League play-off final round (their 58th match of the season, a club record).
The2014–15 season began with a new manager, formerHeerenveen manager and Ajax greatMarco van Basten. However, after just three matches into the season, Van Basten resigned as manager to become assistant manager underAlex Pastoor, citing heavy stress as the main reason.[10] Pastoor was the interim manager during two matches under Van Basten's absence and received the official title on 16 September, but contract negotiations failed and he left the club just two days later. A week later,John van den Brom was appointed manager. Under Van den Brom, AZ quickly rose up to the sub-top, eventually finished the season in third place, surpassing Feyenoord on the final season's matchday and qualifying for the2015–16 Europa League.
The2015–16 Eredivisie started with AZ selling most of its first-team players from the previous season during the summer transfer period. As a response, AZ bought players from other Dutch clubs, notablyVincent Janssen fromAlmere City,Alireza Jahanbakhsh fromNEC andBen Rienstra fromPEC Zwolle. In December, it was announced free agentRon Vlaar signed a contract until the end of the season after training with the club for a few weeks prior.[11] Vlaar quickly became team captain and helped lift AZ from tenth place to a fourth-place finish in the league. Along this rise, new signing Vincent Janssen scored 27 goals for the club, earning him the Eredivisie top goalscorer title. In the2015–16 KNVB Cup, AZ reached the semi-finals, losing 3–1 to Feyenoord. AZ won the first two qualification rounds to qualify for the 2015–16 Europa League group stage, but finished last in their group.
A poor start to their2020/21 Eredivisie campaign saw AZ draw five games in a row, before eventually picking up a victory againstRKC Waalwijk on 1 November 2020.
AZ Alkmaar's squad in a match againstDynamo Kyiv in the Champions League qualifiers 2021.
AZ also struggled in European competitions this season. Despite a strong start, with a 3–1 extra time come back againstViktoria Plzen in the Champions League qualifiers, the club lost 2–0 toDynamo Kyiv several weeks later, seeing them fall back into theEuropa League. After victory againstNapoli andRijeka early in the pool stages, AZ was on track to advance, though lost toReal Sociedad away, obtained a 0–0 draw in the reverse fixture, and also drew 1–1 withNapoli. Following these results, AZ needed to defeatRijeka away to advance. However, the departure the week before the game of managerArne Slot saw an unorganised team lose 2–1 to Rijeka, ending their European dream.
In 2022–2023, AZ stepped up their performance in Europa Conference League play, winning five out of six Group E matches againstSC Dnipro-1,Apollon Limassol andVaduz, then beatingLazio 4–2 on aggregate. However, their run was ended by defeats toWest Ham United, with AZ's home leg marred by supporter violence.[12]
In the 2023–24 season, AZ had a disappointed season, they get eliminated early in the group stage of theUEFA Conference League. After only winning against the amateurs clubQuick Boys on penalty shootout in theKNVB, AZ fired coachPascal Jansen on 17 January 2024.[13]
Their new manager wasMaarten Martens, a former AZ player. After joined the club, he led AZ to a fourth place in the league, which secured the qualification forEuropa League. In 2025, AZ reached thefinal of the KNVB Cup, but then lost againstGo Ahead Eagles on penalty shootout. On 9 May 2025, AZ extended Martens's contract until the summer of 2028.[14][15] Before the beginning of the 2025–26 season,Leaseweb become the new shirt sponsor for AZ Alkmaar.[16][17]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
AFAS Stadion, AZ's home venue in Alkmaar. Photo includes the old roof and the old name, 'DSB Stadion'.
AZ play its home matches at theAFAS Stadion, located in the southern part of the city of Alkmaar. The stadium, which is directly owned by the club, was opened in 2006 and replaced the oldAlkmaarderhout venue as theDSB Stadion. The stadium currently has a capacity of 17,023. During its design stages, the name Victorie Stadion was frequently used, referring to theDutch War of Independence, the phrase"In Alkmaar begint de victorie" (Victory begins in Alkmaar) in particular. Until now, this name has not been officially in use, the board instead opting for sponsorship deals because of financial motives. However, to this day, the name maintains a good share of support among the fans.
To further increase revenue, AZ's board of directors decided to expand the capacity of the new stadium to at least 30,000 somewhere in the future. The extension will be realised by constructing a second tier to three of the four stands. The main stand with all technical areas, VIP and sponsor and media facilities will remain in place. These plans, however, were put on hold after the DSB bankruptcy and there are no current plans to increase the capacity.
In October 2009, sponsorDSB Bank was declared bankrupt. The stadium name temporarily changed from DSB Stadion to AZ Stadion, as it was considered undesirable that the stadium was linked with a non-existent bank. In February 2010, a new main sponsor was found in construction works service provider BUKO, based inBeverwijk.
A year later, in the 2010–11 season,AFAS Software [nl] took over as official stadium sponsor. The current external name of the ground is the AFAS Stadion.
On 10 August 2019, the roof of the stadium partially collapsed. No people were injured during the incident.[19] As the result AZ spent the rest of the year playing home matches at theCars Jeans Stadion inThe Hague whilst the damaged roof was being removed, before returning to the stadium on 15 December 2019, beating Ajax 1–0 in their first match back.[20] AZ played the rest of the 2019/20 season, until the COVID-19 pandemic cut it short, without a roof. During the 2020/21 season, a new roof was installed, held up by 20 crane-like arms on three sides and a so-calledmega truss on the main stand.[21] The renewed stadium, which also included a capacity upgrade of nearly 2,500 seats for a new total capacity of 19,500, was officially opened on 11 September 2021, before the home game against PSV.[22]
^Klaas en Cees Molenaar had been at this match and blamed Ajax' late equalizer on a mistake by the referee; they claimed they then swore to once become national champion with their team, with which they succeeded 47 years later.[3]
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