AZ (FOOTBALL CLUB)

'AZ', an initialism for '''Alkmaar Zaanstreek''', is a football club from Alkmaar, the Netherlands. It was founded on May 10, 1967 as 'AZ '67', the result of a merger of ''Alkmaar '54'' and ''FC Zaanstreek''. In the Netherlands the club is known as ''AZ'', but internationally ''Alkmaar'' is often added.
Owing to the commitment of businessmen Cees and Klaas Molenaar, AZ '67 was 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.
In the summer of 2006, the club moved to a new 17,000 capacity stadium, the DSB Stadion. Due to a larger than expected demand for tickets, the new ground will probably be expanded to 30,000 in 2008 by adding a second tier.
The club manager is Louis van Gaal, who succeeded Co Adriaanse after the 2004-05 season. In April 2007 Louis van Gaal signed an extension of his contract to 2010, which included clauses related to possible jobs as a national coach in future.

Contents

Current squad

Out on loan

Achievements

Notable players

Former managers

See also

External links

Current squad

[1] Players in 'bold' have international caps.

Out on loan

Achievements

★ 'Eredivisie'

★
★ 'Winners (1): ' 1981

★ 'Eerste Divisie'

★
★ 'Winners (2): ' 1996, 1998

★ 'KNVB Cup'

★
★ 'Winners (3): ' 1978, 1981, 1982

★
★ 'Runners-up (1): ' 2007

★ 'UEFA Cup'

★
★ 'Runners-up (1): ' 1981

★
★ 'Semifinalists (1): ' 2005

★ 'Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu'

★
★ 'Runners-up (1): ' 1981

Notable players

★ Kees Kist (1972-1981)

★ Jan Peters (1977-1982)

★ Hans de Koning (1978-1988)

★ Eddy Treijtel (1979-1985)

★ Hugo Hovenkamp

★ Bert van Marwijk (1975-1979)

★ Willem van Hanegem (1976-1979)

★ Louis van Gaal (1986-1987) (Now Manager)

★ Phillip Cocu (1988-1990)

★ Martin Haar (1983-1986) (Now Assistant Manager)

★ Sigi Lens

★ Fred Patrick

★ Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (1990-1993)

★ Michael Buskermolen (1990-2006)

★ Barry Opdam (1996-present)

★ Barry van Galen (1997-2006)

★ John Bosman (1999-2002)

★ Jan Kromkamp (2000-2005)

★ Henk Timmer (2000-2006)

★ Ron Vlaar (2002-2006)

★ Tim de Cler (2002-2007)

★ Denny Landzaat (2003-2006)

★ Kew Jaliens (2004-present)

★ Joris Mathijsen (2004-2006)

Former managers

★ Co Adriaanse

★ Hans van Doorneveld

★ Hans Eijkenbroek

★ Willem van Hanegem

★ Hans de Koning

★ Gerard van der Lem

★ Piet Schrijvers

★ Henk van Stee

★ Piet de Visser

★ Theo Vonk

★ Henk Wullems

★ Georg Kessler

See also

★ Dutch football league teams

External links

★ AZ.nl - Official website /

★ AZ TV

★ Forza-AZ

★ AZ Fanpage

★ AZ news & fanpage

★ AZ news at ePitch

★ AZ formations at football-lineups.com