Red shirt with white sleeves, white shorts and socks
Away Kit
All white
General Introduction
AZ were formed in 1967 as the result of a merger between Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek. They are often incorrectly referred to as AZ Alkmaar, as AZ stands for Alkmaar Zaanstreek.
They are based in the DSB Stadion in the city of Alkmaar, and managed by former Holland great Ronald Koeman.
As with all of our guides, if there is anything missing from the following pages that you need to know then feel free to drop us an email and we'll do our best to find it out for you.
Brief Club History
The club have had mixed fortunes in the past - their success in the late seventies and early eighties (including a UEFA Cup final appearance and Dutch Championship in 1981) contrasts with their relegation and subsequent decade in the lower leagues in Holland from 1988 to 1998.
Since their return to the Eredivisie they have established themselves as a major side, returning to the UEFA Cup in 2004-05 and reaching the semi-finals. In the summer of 2006 the club moved from their former stadium, Alkmaarderhout, which had a capacity of only 8,390, to the new DSB Stadion which holds 17,000. Their chairman has announced plans to expand the DSB to a capacity of around 40,000 in the next couple of years.
AZ had a magnificent home record in European football, not losing any of the 32 home matches played between 1977 and 2007, when they finally succumbed to a 3-2 defeat to Everton.
In 2008/09 they managed a run of 28 games unbeaten, including a run of 11 games without conceding, and wrapped up their second Dutch title, the first in 28 years not to be won by the 'big three' of Dutch football (PSV, Ajax or Feyenoord). AZ will be playing their first ever Champions League football in 2009.
