Dutch Debate: AZ Fairytale Comes To An Abrupt End

When local businessman Dirk Scheringa took charge of reigning Eredivisie champions AZ back in 1993, the Alkmaar side was nothing more than a mid-table outfit in the Dutch Eerstedivisie. AZ had just finished thirteenth and tenth in the table in Holland’s second tier when the ambitious Scheringa took over the club.

Scheringa used his DSB consortium to get AZ back on track and invested serious money into the club to help them return to the Eredivisie. They won promotion in 1996, but their return to the highest level was not very successful and they relegated right back to the Eerstedivisie. However, they once again returned to the Eredivisie in 1998 and this time they were there to stay.

The Alkmaar side brought in legendary manager Louis van Gaal in 2005 to guide them to the league title and the former Ajax and Barcelona gaffer appeared to have found the key to success. After finishing second in the table in the first year under Van Gaal, AZ led the 2006-07 Eredivisie table with only one more match to go and lowly Excelsior was expected not to pose too much of a problem in their final match. However, the Rotterdam side stunned AZ and PSV eventually picked up the league title on goal difference.

Players such as Danny Koevermans, Tim de Cler and Shota Arveladze left the club in the summer of 2007, but Scheringa used his DSB resources to splash the cash on some exciting youngsters such as Sebastian Pocognoli, Ari, Graziano Pelle and Mounir el Hamaoui. However, AZ had trouble dealing with the disappointment of losing the league title on the final day of the season and the 2007-08 campaign was one to forget for the AZ faithful.


Van Gaal’s men bounced back last season though and did so in impressive fashion. AZ were by far the strongest team of the Eredivisie and were crowned league champions three games before the end of the league season. Players such as Mounir el Hamdaoui, Moussa Dembele, Stijn Schaars, Sergio Romero and Demy de Zeeuw were the key men for the Alkmaar side in their successful Eredivisie campaign and many expected them to leave AZ for bigger clubs.

De Zeeuw and coach Van Gaal were the only two to leave AZ last summer though and the club appeared to have a bright future ahead of them. The majority of the AZ players are still young and have plenty of room for improvement. Additionally, playing Champions League football would generate more income for AZ, meaning that there will be no need to cash in on any of their prized assets. Therefore, AZ were expected to join the Dutch elite on a permanent basis and Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV would no longer be the only teams fighting for the Eredivisie title.  

Nevertheless, developments in the past couple of weeks have drastically changed the landscape for the reigning Dutch champions. Chairman Dirk Scheringa’s DSB consortium was dealt a huge blow when DSB Bank was declared bankrupt on Monday and even though the Alkmaar side have stressed that this won’t affect AZ, there’s no doubt about it that club's rise to the top has probably come to an abrupt end.  

DSB Bank was not only AZ’s most important sponsor, paying €5.5 million per year to have its name on the AZ jersey, they also provided several financial extras for the Alkmaar side. Dirk Scheringa invested serious money in AZ in order to make sure that they were able to secure the services of El Hamdaoui, Pelle, Ari, Dembele, Romero and Moreno. DSB Bank’s financial support also allowed AZ to turn down big money offers for Dembele and Maarten Martens last summer, while Dirk Scheringa’s resources made several key players decide to stay at AZ and sign lucrative contracts.


An AZ spokesman confirmed earlier this week that the club’s budget will drop from €40m to €32m next year and could even drop lower if AZ fail to find a main sponsor that is willing to match the annual fee DSB Bank paid. This scenario appears to be very likely to happen, considering that the current economical situation will not allow many companies to splash the cash on these kinds of sponsorship deals. Furthermore, several sources have already reported that AZ will be forced to decrease their salary expenses in order to prevent them from struggling financially and it appears to be inevitable that they will sell some of their star players in the upcoming transfer window.

Many AZ fans are full of confidence that the bankruptcy of DSB Bank will not affect the club’s ambitions, but it appears as if history may repeat itself in Alkmaar. The first time AZ scooped up the Eredivisie title in 1980-81, it was the Molenaar brothers who helped the Alkmaar side to domestic glory by investing loads of money into the club. The two local businessmen signed a number of high-profile names and aside from winning the league title, AZ also won the Dutch Cup and made it to the UEFA Cup final.

However, Klaas and Cees Molenaar were not happy with the way the club was treated in and around Alkmaar and the two decided to leave the club. Things went downward from there on and AZ were relegated to the Eerstedivisie in 1988.

Even though I don’t see AZ struggling to stay in the Eredivisie in the near future, I find it hard to believe that the reigning Dutch champions will succeed in becoming a permanent part of the Dutch elite. DSB’s fall will almost certainly affect the ambitions of AZ and they will most likely have to focus on finishing in the top six in the coming years instead of fighting for the Eredivsie title.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you think AZ can still challenge the traditional big-3 for domestic success? Or does their rise to the top indeed come to an end with the bankruptcy of DSB Bank. Goal.com wants to know what you think.

Stefan Coerts, Goal.com