AZ (football club)

AZ
Full name	Alkmaar Zaanstreek
Short name	AZ
Founded	10 May 1967
Ground	DSB Stadion; Alkmaar; (Capacity: 17,150)
Chairman	Dirk Scheringa
Manager	Ronald Koeman
League	Eredivisie
2008–09	Eredivisie, 1st
Website	Club home page

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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] History

It 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, is on record as stating that he wishes to expand the stadium to 40,000 by 2010.^[2]

AZ had a very good 2006-2007 season, which ended however in disappointment. 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 en Shota Arveladze left the team.

AZ versus Larisa in UEFA Cup match.

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 next 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 clubs

On 22 May 2009 Dirk Scheringa has announced an cooperation with Bayern Munich^[6], the club has pre-emption right for the AZ contracted players^[7].

FC Bayern München

Dutch First Division club Telstar is an official satellite club of AZ. Youth players are stalled at Telstar to gain experience. Since 10 Mai 2009, former youth coach of AZ Marcel Bout will be responsible for the technical coordination ^[8].

[edit] Current squad

As of June 5, 2009, according to the official website ^[9]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Sergio Romero
2	DF	Kew Jaliens
3	DF	Gijs Luirink
4	DF	Héctor Moreno
5	DF	Sébastien Pocognoli
6	MF	David Mendes da Silva
7	FW	Jeremain Lens
8	MF	Stijn Schaars (captain)
9	FW	Ari
10	FW	Mounir El Hamdaoui
11	MF	Maarten Martens
12	GK	Joey Didulica
14	DF	Ragnar Klavan

No.	Position	Player
15	MF	Simon Poulsen
16	MF	Pontus Wernbloom
18	FW	Moussa Dembélé
19	MF	Kees Luyckx
20	MF	Demy de Zeeuw
21	GK	Erik Heijblok
23	MF	Nick van der Velden
24	MF	James Holland (footballer)
25	DF	Niklas Moisander
26	MF	Marko Vejinović
27	MF	Brett Holman
28	DF	Gill Swerts
29	FW	Graziano Pellè

[edit] Players not included in squad

No.		Position	Player
		MF	Kemy Agustien
		DF	Milano Koenders
		GK	Boy Waterman

[edit] Out on loan

No.		Position	Player
		FW	Kevin Brands (on loan to Telstar)
		GK	Jordy Deckers (on loan to Telstar)
		MF	Ilias Haddad (on loan to Telstar)
		MF	Furdjel Narsingh (on loan to Telstar)
		FW	Chevello de Rijp (on loan to Telstar)
		FW	Gaston Salasiwa (on loan to Telstar)
		DF	Jeroen Tesselaar (on loan to Telstar)
		DF	Joona Toivio (on loan to Telstar)

[edit] Reserve squad

No.		Position	Player
		GK	Raymond Breebaart
		GK	Kevin Rijnvis
		GK	Albert-Jan de Vries
		DF	Mike Boelee
		DF	Mettin Copier
		DF	Toine van Huizen
		DF	Mohammed Madmar
		DF	Guido Moelee
		DF	Estefan Pattinasarany
		DF	Erik Schouten
		DF	Ramón Rodríquez da Silva
		DF	Giliano Wijnaldum
		MF	Roland Alberg

No.		Position	Player
		MF	James Holland
		MF	Wouter de Vogel
		MF	Vincent Monster
		MF	Ben Rienstra
		MF	Mikhael Rosheuvel
		FW	Olafur Karl Finsen
		FW	Jonathas
		FW	Edwin Gyasi
		FW	Clive Keus
		FW	Ali Messaoud
		FW	Kolbeinn Sigthórsson
		FW	Mitchell te Vrede
		MF	Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson