AFAS Stadion

AFAS Stadion is a stadium in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It is used for football matches and is the home stadium of AZ Alkmaar. The stadium is able to hold 17,023 people and bears the name of a Dutch software company. Due to UEFA's sponsorship regulations, the stadium is named AZ Stadion on European matches.

AFAS Stadion
Victorie Stadion
Full nameAFAS Stadion
Former namesDSB Stadion (2006–2009)
AZ Stadion (2009–2010, still used in UEFA games)
LocationAlkmaar, Netherlands
Coordinates52°36′46″N 4°44′32″E
Capacity17,023[1]
Construction
Opened4 August 2006
Construction cost€38 million
Tenants
AZ Alkmaar

History

It officially opened on 4 August 2006 with a friendly against Arsenal. AZ lost the match 3–0, with Gilberto Silva scoring the stadium's first ever goal. The first Eredivisie game, against NAC Breda, was won 8–1 by the home team with the German midfielder Simon Cziommer scoring a hat-trick.

AFAS Stadion replaces the club's former ground, Alkmaarder Hout. The main stand is called Victorie Tribune, the stand with the fanatic supporters is called Van der Ben Tribune (Ben-Side), the stand behind the other goal is called the Alkmaarderhouttribune, in honour of the former stadium, and the stand opposite to the main stand is called Molenaar Tribune after the brothers Cees Molenaar and Klaas Molenaar, founders of AZ.[2] The official name is AFAS Stadion, but some supporters call it Victorie Stadion, a name that alludes to the turning point victory over Spanish troops besieging Alkmaar during the Eighty Years' War.

In order to further grow the club's budget the AZ Board made the decision to increase the stadium's capacity to 30,000 seats. This was to be achieved by adding a second tier to 3 of the 4 stands, leaving the main stand (The Victorie Tribune) as is. Construction was to begin in the second half of 2010. Construction never got underway though, as the club's main sponsor, and one of the main financial contributors to the project, DSB Bank, went bankrupt shortly before work was to get underway, and as of 2017 the capacity remains at 17,023.

On 10 August 2019, the roof of the stadium partially collapsed. No people were injured during the incident.[3] As the result AZ spent the rest of the year playing home matches at the Cars Jeans Stadion in The Hague.

References
  1. "(untitled)" (PDF). AZ. AFAS Stadion. September 22, 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  2. "Seating plan AFAS Stadium". AZ. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  3. "Dak van AZ-stadion gedeeltelijk ingestort". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.