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KPN Eredivisie, 2000-2001: Club Profile

AZ: FOREVER REMINISCENT OF 1981…

It's almost surreal, looking at the photos in Theo Koomen's book AZ '67. Victorie in Alkmaar. It was 3 May, 1981. If AZ '67 would beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam, the club from Alkmaar - a town of some 85,000 inhabitats, north of Amsterdam - would win the Dutch championship. They did it, with a spectacular 1-5 score. AZ Alkmaar had won the title, no less than six games before the end of the competition. Since the professional Eredivisie was started in 1957, DOS (1958), Sparta (1959) and DWS (1964) were the only teams able to give Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord a set-down. AZ's unbelievable success was the first time the hegemony of the 'Big Three' was broken in 17 years. After that, it would never happen again.

Most remarkable thing about it, was that it was not an incident. Millionaire brothers Klaas and Cees Molenaar, directors of Wastora, a huge company in household equipment, had adopted AZ '67 as their pet in 1972. Their financial injections turned the poor, little club from Alkmaar into a football giant for a few years: AZ won the Dutch cup in 1978, the 'double' in 1981 and one more Dutch Cup in 1982. To make the miracle complete: in 1981, AZ reached the final of the UEFA Cup, in which Ipsiwch Town from England was too strong.

Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV had all won European trophies in the 1970s. The early 1980s were the dark ages for Dutch football. Who could ever have thought that tiny AZ '67 would experience such glory? The AZ team of '81 is still notorious in Holland: the team consisted of Oranje starts such as Ronald Spelbos, Hugo Hovenkamp, John Metgod, Jan Peters, Willem van Hanegem and former Oranje veteran Kees Kist. The team was coached by one of the living legends from the Dutch guild of coaches, Georg Kessler. There were heroic European battles against Barcelona (1977), Liverpool (1981) and Inter Milan (1982). The were eliminated each time, but out of the six games, they lost only two. The AZ fans who were there, can still hardly believe it: it was not a dream, it was all real!

AZ's history before the Molenaar brothers was short. Regional clubs Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek joined forces to form AZ '67 (Alkmaar-Zaanstreek 1967). The start was tough. After five years of buying on tick, the Molenaar brothers dropped by, just in the nick of time to save the club from bankruptcy. Cees Molenaar was only to witness the winning of the first KNVB Cup. He died in 1979. His brother, Klaas, retired in 1985. Three years later, AZ (the affix '67 was deleted in 1986) was broke and got relegated in 1988. Time for bitter conclusions: professional football in Alkmaar seemed to be doomed without the Molenaars.

Even in the First Division, AZ was an insignificant club, until another rich business man, Dirk Scheringa, showed up. AZ's first come-back in the Eredivisie (in 1996) lasted only one year, but in 1998, AZ was back again. This time - so they promise in Alkmaar - for good. In the 1980s the Molenaar brothers made the difference; now it's Dirk Scheringa. His presence puts AZ in a completely different position than a lot of other minor Dutch clubs. AZ is one of the only Eredivisie sides left to play in an obsolete stadium: old the Alkmaarderhout. No problem - a new facility is coming up. Scheringa has promised to bring AZ back into the race for qualification for 'Europe'. And maybe he will, although his club seems to have built a reputation over the last few seasons for being a snake pit, in which coaches get strangled and players quarrel about money with the board.

They've learned to appreciate small things in Alkmaar. After all, they're still the club where Phillip Cocu, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Fernando Ricksen started their careers. That's nice. And when things go bad, you can always close your eyes for a while, and think back of those incredible days of 1981… (MP)

AZ FACTS

Founded: 10 May, 1967 as AZ '67 (fusion of Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek). Name changed into AZ in July, 1986.
City: Alkmaar
Stadium: Alkmaarderhout
Capacity: 8,397
Honors:

• Dutch champions: 1981.
• Dutch Cup winners: 1978, 1981, 1982.
• Runners-up UEFA Cup: 1981.

Ajax vs AZ, the last five Eredivisie seasons: (click for match report) Related Links:

• Official AZ Website