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.
AZ were undefeated in all 32 of their home matches in European competitions, a sequence which ran from 1977 until Dec 20, 2007, when they finally lost to Everton FC 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, is on record as stating that he wishes to expand the stadium to 40,000 by 2010.1
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.
Dirk Scheringa
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