In 1972, the Molenaar brothers bailed it out and invested heavily in the club, to the point that AZ '67 were successful in the late 1970s and early '80s, regularly playing European football from 1977 to 1982 while also winning three KNVB Cups over that period.Īfter four close league campaigns, AZ finally became Dutch champions in 1981, becoming the only team other than the "big three" of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV to do so in a 44-year period spanning from 1965 to 2009 (when AZ once again won the league title). Partially through the hiring of expensive foreign players, the new club soon acquired large debts. The team would be based in Alkmaar, though the second team originally trained and played in Koog aan de Zaan. FC Zaanstreek had finished 7th and Alkmaar '54 12th in 1966–67 Eerste Divisie. After the ZFC leadership thwarted this attempt, the Molenaars successfully merged FC Zaanstreek with Alkmaar '54 in 1967.
In 1964 the professional part of KFC was renamed FC Zaanstreek, while the amateurs played on as KFC.Īlso in 1964, the brothers Cees and Klaas Molenaar, former players and trainers for KFC and owners of a growing appliance store chain, sought to create a powerful football team in Zaanstreek by merging the two local professional teams: KFC and Zaanlandsche Football Club.
KFC had nearly become national champion in 1934 through a narrow loss to Ajax in the finals. After winning the Eerste Divisie in 1960–61, it played one year in the Eredivisie.įC Zaanstreek had been playing since 1910 as the Kooger Football Club (KFC). Alkmaar '54, and by extension AZ, played the very first professional match in the Netherlands: on 14 August 1954, they won 3–0 at home against Venlo '54, with Klaas Smit scoring the first and third goal. Alkmaar '54 was founded as a professional team in April 1954 to play in the 10-team NBVB league, created because the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) refused to organize a professional league (the KNVB took over in 1955).
History 1910–1972: foundation and first years ĪZ was founded on as AZ '67, the result of a merger of Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek. The team has won the KNVB Cup on four occasions, and one Johan Cruyff Shield. In the same season as their first league title, they also reached the UEFA Cup Final, which they lost to Ipswich Town. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands.ĪZ won the Eredivisie in 1980––09. Alkmaar Zaanstreek ( Dutch: ), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ ( pronounced ) in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district.
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