A guide to AZ Alkmaar, a talented youth set up, Dick Advocaat and other facts
On Thursday we kick-off our next European adventure, here are details of the the blue-white-sky blues first opponents in the UEFA Europa League.
AZ Alkmaar or AZ as it is more commonly known were formed on 10th May 1967 as AZ ‘67 after the merger of Alkmaar ’54 and FC Zaanstreek. In July 1986, the name AZ ‘67 was changed to AZ. The professional club football has played in Alkmaar since 1954.
The last major success for the team was winning the Dutch Cup in 2012/13. Last season, AZ finished in fourth place in the championship and so qualified like for the group stage of the Europa League via the third qualifying round. In the first match of the group AZ surprisingly only picked up a point in the match with Dundalk. They also drew they're last Dutch league game with Go Ahead Eagles. AZ sit in fifth place in the Eredivisie with 14 points from 7 games.
Manager
John Van den Brom has been with the club since September 2014, when he took over from Dutch legend Marco Van Basten. As a player the midfielder picked up two Dutch caps in the early 1990's and spent most of his playing career at Vitesse Arnhem before brief spells at Ajax and Istanbulspor before returning to Vitesse, where he ended up playing more than 300 games.
He's worked his way up the Managerial ladder, beginning at amateur side Bennekom in 2003, before a move to Ajax's youth set up. In May 2010 he moved to Eredivisie mid-table club ADO Den Haag, taking the club into the Europe in the 2011/12 season for first time since their only previous visit in 1960's. A moderately successful spell at Vitesse then followed before an unsuccessful move to Belgium's Anderlecht saw him wind up at his current club.
Star Player
The hero of last season championship and league top scorer was Alkmaar's Vincent Janssen. As usual, these star players do not stay in the Dutch championship for long and Janssen earned his move to the Premier League and is now at Tottenham Hotspur. His replacement is the 197-centimeter tall Wout Weghorst, the club's current top scorer with 4 for the season so far from 6 games, he signed from Heracles Almelo earlier this season and the highly rated 24 year old will be a threat for Zenit's centre halfs in both the air and on the floor.
Starting line-up
4-3-3. Rochet, Johansson, Van Eijden, Vlaar, Haps, Luckassen, Van Overeem, Rienstra, Bel Hassani, Weghorst, Dos Santos