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AZ, an acronym for Alkmaar Zaanstreek, is a football club from Alkmaar, the Netherlands. They are the current Dutch Eredivisie champions.
[edit] HistoryIt was founded on 10 May 1967 as AZ '67, the result of a merger of Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek. The name was changed into AZ in July 1986; internationally, Alkmaar is often tautologously added. Owing to the commitment of businessmen Cees and Klaas Molenaar, AZ '67 were successful in the late seventies and early eighties. In 1981 they became Dutch champions and UEFA Cup finalists. Things went downhill after the Molenaar brothers left the club. In 1988 AZ were relegated from the Eredivisie. The involvement of businessman Dirk Scheringa in the mid-nineties marked the revival of the club. AZ returned to the Eredivisie in 1998. In 2004-05 they reappeared in the UEFA Cup tournament, advancing to the semi-finals. They also finished third in the Eredivisie that season, again qualifying for the UEFA Cup, after spending most of the season in the top two spots. A remarkable achievement, since AZ is financially not a big club and it does not have a similar fanbase like their Eredivisie rivals: AZ's home ground in the 2005-06 season, the Alkmaarderhout, had a spectator capacity of 8,390. AZ were undefeated in all 32 of their home matches in European competitions, a sequence which ran from 1977 until 20 December 2007, when they finally lost to Everton of England, by a score of 2-3. In the summer of 2006, the club moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium, the DSB Stadion. The club's chairman, Dirk Scheringa, stated in 2007 that he wished to expand the stadium to 40,000 by 2010.[2] Ultimately, the club began plans to expand the stadium to at least 30,000 seats by 2011–12. AZ had a very good 2006-2007 season, which ended however in disaster. Going into the last game of the 2006-2007 season AZ lead PSV Eindhoven and AFC Ajax by goal-differential for the Eredivisie championship, but ended up third after losing this last match against bottom-dweller Excelsior, playing with 10 men for 80 minutes. Further setbacks followed when AZ lost the KNVB Cup finals to Ajax, 8-7 in penalty kicks after a drawn game, and also lost to Ajax over two playoff games for the Champions League. After this season key players like Tim de Cler, Danny Koevermans and Shota Arveladze left the team.  In the 2007-2008 season, AZ performed so badly (first round loss in the KNVB Cup, elimination from the UEFA Cup before winter break and a final 11th position in the Eredivisie), that van Gaal felt obliged to hand in his resignation in March 2008. However, after protests from the players and direction, van Gaal withdrew his resignation to finish his contractual obligations. The 2008-2009 season had an unpromising start with two defeats against NAC Breda and ADO Den Haag. However, starting with a 1:0 victory over the league champions of last season, PSV Eindhoven, the team didn't lose in the next 28 matches, including a stretch of 11 matches in which the opposing teams did not score a single goal. Three weeks before the end of the season, despite their second home defeat of the season (against Vitesse Arnhem), AZ became Eredivisie champions when nearest rivals FC Twente and AFC Ajax both lost their matches.[3][4]. AZ's second championship was the first Eredivisie title since their own 28 years earlier that was won by a team other than the "big three" (Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord). AZ will also be playing Champions League football for the first time in their history this season. The current club manager is Ronald Koeman, who succeeded Louis van Gaal after the 2008-09 season. Louis van Gaal had already left for Bayern Munich, after becoming league champions with AZ Alkmaar. Ronald Koeman became head-coach for AZ, May 17th, 2009. [5] [edit] Satellite clubsOn 22 May 2009, Dirk Scheringa has announced a cooperation with Bayern Munich[6]; the club has preemption rights for the AZ contracted players[7]. Dutch First Division club Telstar is an official satellite club of AZ. Youth players are stalled at Telstar to gain experience. Since 10 May 2009, former youth coach of AZ Marcel Bout will be responsible for the technical coordination.[8] [edit] Current squadAs of June 5, 2009, according to the official website [9]
[edit] Players not included in squad
[edit] Out on loan
[edit] Reserve squad
[edit] StadiumSee also: DSB Stadion  AZ play their home games at DSB Stadion, located in the southern part of the city of Alkmaar. The stadium, which is owned directly by the club, was inaugurated in 2006 and replaced the old Alkmaarderhout venue. The stadium has currently a capacity of 17,023. In order to further grow the club’s budget the AZ Board decided to extend the capacity of the new stadium to minimum 30,000 seats. The extension will be realised to construct a 2nd tier to three of the four stands. The main stand with all technical areas, VIP & sponsor and media facilities will remain in place. The club plans to start construction in the 3rd quarter of 2010 in order for the stadium to be commissioned in time for the 2011-2012 season. [edit] Honours
1 As Alkmaar '54 [edit] AZ in EuropeBelow is a table with AZ's international results in the past seasons.
[edit] Domestic resultsBelow is a table with AZ's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1956.
[edit] Notable players
[edit] Managers
[edit] See also[edit] Notes and references
[edit] External links
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