During the 2014–15 season, AZ competed in the Eredivisie for the 17th consecutive season and the KNVB CUP under new manager Marco van Basten, and then John van den Brom after Van Basten relinquished his role after health issues, becoming assistant to Van den Brom.^[1] Under Gertjan Verbeek and Dick Advocaat the previous season, AZ lost their title of KNVB Cup to PEC Zwolle after being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual league winners Ajax and finishing eighth in the league.

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Quick Facts Full name, Nickname(s) ...

AZ

Full name	Alkmaar Zaanstreek
Nickname(s)	The Cheese Farmers

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Quick Facts season, Chairman ...

2014–15 AZ Alkmaar season

2014/15 season
Chairman	René Neelissen
Manager	John van den Brom
Ground	AFAS Stadion capacity: 17,023
Eredivisie	3rd
KNVB Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Nemanja Gudelj (11) All: Nemanja Gudelj (12)
Home colours
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

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Following the 2013–14 season in which AZ broke their record for most competitive games in a season (58) ^[2] which started in the KNVB Cup on 27 July 2013 (an extra time loss to Ajax) and ended in the Eredivisie UEFA Europa League play-offs (3–0 loss to Groningen).

During this run of 58 games, Gertjan Verbeek was sacked and Dick Advocaat was brought out of retirement to replace Verbeek until the end of the season.^[3] The club finished in 8th and lost at the final stages of the play-offs for European football.

League results were inconsistent, although the club managed to make the quarter-finals of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, playing Atromitos,^[4] PAOK, Maccabi Haifa, Shakhter Karagandy,^[5] Slovan Liberec, Anzhi Makhachkala before being eliminated by Benfica.^[6]

For the new season, Marco van Basten left Heerenveen to sign a two-year contract at AZ, expressing his desire for the new challenge.^[7]

AZ's pre-season began on 30 June with their first training session^[36] and consisted of seven official matches which started with an away friendly match on 5 July 2014 against Dutch amateurs SVW '27 from Heerhugowaard, just outside Alkmaar, and amateur club AFC '34 from Alkmaar.

SVW’27 v AZ

5 July 2014 Friendly	SVW’27	1–14	AZ	Heerhugowaard
	Bakker 2'		Tanković 4', 44' Haye 7', 45' Berghuis 16' Gorter 28' (pen.) Wuytens 35' Johansson 42' Avdić 49', 71' Elm 57' Rosheuvel 60' Henriksen 62' Haps 90'	Stadium: Sportpark de Kabel

AFC '34 v AZ

9 July 2014 Friendly	AFC '34	1–4	AZ	Alkmaar
	Ben Hamed 11'		Tanković 12' (pen.), 32' Henriksen 40' Anderson 53'	Stadium: Robonsbosweg

Following the games against amateur opposition the club played a friendly with the full AZ squad, with two teams (blue and red) where both teams were mixed with regular first team players.

AZ Rood (red) v AZ Blauw (blue)

13 July 2014 Friendly	AZ Rood (red)	1–2	AZ Blauw (blue)	Alkmaar
	Van Overeem 49'		Tanković 27' Gorter 75' (pen.)	Stadium: AFAS Stadion training field

Then followed a weeks training camp in Epe, Netherlands where AZ played their first games against professional teams in the pre-season; they played reserves against NEC, newly relegated from the Eredivisie, on the Saturday and then on Sunday fielded a full strength team against Gabala FK of Azerbaijan on the final day of the training camp.

AZ v NEC

19 July 2014 Friendly	AZ	0–0	NEC	Epe
	-		-	Stadium: sv Wissel Attendance: 400 Referee: Wim Bronsvoort

AZ v Gabala

20 July 2014 Friendly	AZ	2–0	Gabala	Epe
	Tanković 27', 70'		Urfan Abbasov  ?' Ropotan  ?' Marquinhos Carioca  ?'	Stadium: sv Wissel Attendance: 250 Referee: Jochem Kamphuis

After the training camp in Epe, AZ had a specially arranged friendly against Eerste Divisie side VVV to celebrate exactly 60th anniversary since the two teams first met in a competitive game.^[37] This special fixture had silverware to be won in the form of the Herman Teeuwen Bokkal, a pre-season competition organised by VVV to play larger teams for the trophy named after the legendary VVV player and scout Herman Teeuwen. After VVV winning against OFI Crete last year on this occasion AZ were victorious and awarded the cup;here is the AZ captain, Nemanja Gudelj, with the trophy.^[38]

VVV v AZ

26 July 2014 Friendly	VVV	0–2	AZ	Venlo
	-		Gudelj  ?' Gouweleeuw 83' Ortiz 90'	Stadium: Seacon Stadion Referee: Edwin de Graaf

After winning silverware, AZ agreed to play a friendly against German Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim as part of their training camp in Switzerland. The final match of pre-season has been arranged for 1 August on the training field outside AFAS Stadion^[39] and will once again feature players from just the AZ squad. This game featured the squad wearing their new kits for the forthcoming season.^[40] The white (away) kit was worn by fringe members of the squad and black (away) kits were worn by the reserve and under-19 AZ players. This concluded the pre-season with only eight days remaining until the Eredivisie season opener against Heracles Almelo away.

AZ v 1899 Hoffenheim

31 July 2014 Friendly	AZ	0–3	1899 Hoffenheim	Weggis
	Gouweleeuw  ?' Johansson  ?'		Firmino  25' Rudy 57' Modeste 71' Salihović 88'	Stadium: Thermoplan Arena

AZ Wit (White) v AZ Zwart (Black)

1 August 2014 Friendly	AZ Wit (White)	0–0	AZ Zwart (Black)	Alkmaar
	-		-	Stadium: AFAS Stadion training field

Accurate as of 1 August

Statistics

More information Rank, Player ...

Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. Muamer Tanković 7(1) 2. Thom Haye 2 Denni Avdić 2 Markus Henriksen 2 Donny Gorter 2 (2) 6. Steven Berghuis 1 Jan Wuytens 1 Mattias Johansson 1 Viktor Elm 1 Mikhail Rosheuvel 1 Ridgeciano Haps 1 Djavan Anderson 1 Joris van Overeem 1 Jeffrey Gouweleeuw 1 Celso Ortiz 1 Total 25(3)

Goals conceded Against (pen.) Scorers 1899 Hoffenheim 3 Rudy Modeste Salihović AZ Rood 2(1) Tankovic Gorter (pen.) SVW’27 1 Bakker AFC '34 1 Ben Hamed AZ Blauw 1 van Overeem NEC 0 - Qabala 0 - VVV 0 - AZ Wit 0 - AZ Zwart 0 - Total 8(1)

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Accurate as of 1 August

The regular domestic league season began with an away fixture in the start of August 2015 to Heracles Almelo and finished away to Excelsior in mid-late May 2015.^[41]

Heracles Almelo v AZ

9 August 2014 1	Heracles Almelo	0–3	AZ	Almelo
	Fledderus  64'		Berghuis 56' Hupperts 62' Tanković 75'	Stadium: Polman Stadion Attendance: 8,315 Referee: Dennis Higler

AZ v Ajax

17 August 2014 2	AZ	1–3	Ajax	Alkmaar
	Berghuis 50' Wuytens  75' Gouweleeuw  90' Hupperts  90'		Klaassen 15' Sigþórsson  37' Schöne 69' El Ghazi 90' Moisander  90'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 16,011 Referee: Kevin Blom

Willem II v AZ

23 August 2014 3	Willem II	3–0	AZ	Tilburg
	Andrade 14' Messaoud 29' Ondaan  33' Vicento 86'	Summary	Wuytens  37'	Stadium: Koning Willem II Stadion Attendance: 9,500 Referee: Jochem Kamphuis

Dordrecht v AZ

30 August 2014 4	Dordrecht	1–3	AZ	Dordrecht
	Gosens  3' Lieder 53' Haddad  68'	Summary	Hupperts 6' Tanković 22' Gudelj  53' Berghuis 58'	Stadium: GN Bouw Stadion Attendance: 4,235 Referee: Ed Janssen

AZ v Heerenveen

13 September 2014 5	AZ	0–1	Heerenveen	Alkmaar
	Johansson  67'	Report	Sinkgraven 38',  58' De Roon  76'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,398 Referee: Nijhuis

AZ v PEC Zwolle

21 September 2014 6	AZ	1–0	PEC Zwolle	Alkmaar
	Luckassen  57' Henriksen 72' Hoedt  84'	Report	Reinstra  23'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 14,748 Referee: Kuipers

ADO Den Haag v AZ

27 September 2014 7	ADO Den Haag	2–3	AZ	The Hague
	Zuiverloon  8' Kramer 42' Alberg  58' 85'	Report	Luckassen  25' Hupperts  29' Poulsen 45' Johansson 67' Gudelj 83'	Stadium: Kyocera Stadion Attendance: 10,678 Referee: Tom van Sichem

AZ v Twente

5 October 2014 8	AZ	2–2	Twente	Alkmaar
	Mühren 28' Tanković 84' Rochet  90'	Summary	Ebecilio 55' Bjelland  57' Ziyech 59' Marsman  83' Bengtsson  90+1'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,333 Referee: Reinold Wiedemeijer

PSV v AZ

18 October 2014 9	PSV	3–0	AZ	Eindhoven
	Narsingh 20' Maher 29', 41'	L	Luckassen  4' Elm  47'	Stadium: Philips Stadion Attendance: 31,400 Referee: Kuipers

AZ v Groningen

25 October 2014 10	AZ	2–2	Groningen	Alkmaar
	Johansson  57' Rosheuvel 59' Gudelj 83'		De Leeuw 10' Hoesen 52' Botteghin  58'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,019 Referee: Pol van Boekel

AZ v Excelsior

2 November 2014 11	AZ	3–3	Excelsior	Alkmaar
	Gudelj 33' Van Diermen 68' (o.g.) Tanković 73' Johansson  83'	Summary	Kuipers  5' Auassar 10' Fischer  39' Karami 40' Vermeulen  77' De Reuver 84' Bruins  86'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,236 Referee: Jochem Kamphuis

NAC Breda v AZ

8 November 2014 12	NAC Breda	0–1	AZ	Breda
	De Kamps  57'	Summary	Gudelj  20', 57' Poulsen  81'	Stadium: Rat Verlegh Stadion Attendance: 18,500 Referee: Tom van Sichem

AZ v Vitesse

22 November 2014 13	AZ	1–0	Vitesse	Alkmaar
	Jóhannsson 14'	Summary	Labyad  65' Pröpper  87'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,517 Referee: Nijhuis

Cambuur v AZ

29 November 2014 14	Cambuur	0–2	AZ	Leeuwarden
		Report	Gudelj 39' (pen.), 55'	Stadium: Cambuur Stadion Attendance: 9,843 Referee: Dennis Higler

AZ v Go Ahead Eagles

6 December 2014 15	AZ	2-0	Go Ahead Eagles	Alkmaar
	Jóhannsson 25' Johansson  53' Gudelj  63' Dos Santos 70'	Summary	Van der Linden  49' De Sa  89'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 15,188 Referee: Pieter Vink

Feyenoord v AZ

14 December 2014 16	Feyenoord	2–2	AZ	Rotterdam
	Kazim-Richards 53' Boëtius  58' Clasie 90+3'	Summary	Hoedt 25' Haye  28' Tanković 30' Alvarado  59' Gouweleeuw  59' Haps  88'	Stadium: De Kuip Attendance: 47,500 Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük

AZ v Utrecht

20 December 2014 17	AZ	0–3	Utrecht	Alkmaar
	Haye  34' Ortiz  53'	Summary	Duplan 12', 28',  76' Diemers 37' Ayoub  66' Hardeveld  88'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 14,825 Referee: Richard Liesveld

AZ v Dordrecht

17 January 2015 18	AZ	2–0	Dordrecht	Alkmaar
	Poulsen 25' Gudelj 51'	Summary		Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 14,714 Referee: Bas Nijhuis

PEC Zwolle v AZ

24 January 2015 19	PEC Zwolle	1–1	AZ	Zwolle
	Lukoki 15'	Summary	Gudelj 5',  66' Gouweleeuw  72' Ortiz  82'	Stadium: IJsseldelta Stadion Attendance: 12,250 Referee: Pieter Vink

AZ v Heracles Almelo

1 February 2015 20	AZ	3–1	Heracles Almelo	Alkmaar
	Jóhannsson 9' Hupperts  26' Haps  46' Berghuis 54' Henriksen 88'	Summary	Aktaou  39' Linssen  44' Schenkeveld  75' Darri 81'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 14,512 Referee: Björn Kuipers

Ajax v AZ

5 February 2015 21	Ajax	0–1	AZ	Amsterdam
	Moisander  61'	Summary	Berghuis  43' Jóhannsson 76'	Stadium: Amsterdam Arena Attendance: 47,724 Referee: Pol van Boekel

Groningen v AZ

8 February 2015 22	Groningen	2–4	AZ	Groningen
	Berghuis 8' (o.g.) De Leeuw 37' Kieftenbeld  62'	Summary	Berghuis 45' Gouweleeuw 59' Henriksen 65', 82' Hoedt  80'	Stadium: Euroborg Attendance: 18,807 Referee: Martin van den Kerkhof

Statistics

More information Rank, Player ...

Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. Steven Berghuis 3 2= Guus Hupperts 2 Muamer Tanković 2 Total 7

Goals conceded Against Scorers Ajax 3 Davy Klaassen Lasse Schöne Anwar El Ghazi Willem II 3 Bruno Andrade Ali Messaoud Charlton Vicento Dordrecht 1 Mart Lieder Heracles Almelo 0 - Heerenveen - - PEC Zwolle - - ADO Den Haag - - Twente - - PSV - - Groningen - - Excelsior - - NAC - - Vitesse - - Cambuur - - Go Ahead Eagles - - Feyenoord - - Utrecht - - Total 7

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League table

More information Pos, Pld ...

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	PSV (C)	34	29	1	4	92	31	+61	88	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Ajax	34	21	8	5	69	29	+40	71	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	AZ	34	19	5	10	63	56	+7	62	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
4	Feyenoord	34	17	8	9	56	39	+17	59	Qualification for the European competition play-offs
5	Vitesse (O)	34	16	10	8	66	43	+23	58

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Source: NUsport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

AZ were drawn against the winners of the first round match on 27 August 2014 between Limburg amateurs EVV and Spirit'30, amateurs from Hoogkarspel for the second round of the KNVB Cup.^[42][43] EVV were victorious in the match, winning 4–0, and AZ will visit the 2,000 capacity Sportpark "In de Bandert" on 24 September 2014.^[44]

EVV v AZ

24 September 2014 Round 2	EVV	0–1	AZ	Echt-Susteren
		Summary	Haye 27'	Stadium: Sportpark "In de Bandert" Attendance: 2,124 Referee: Dennis Higler

GVVV v AZ

29 October 2014 Round 3	GVVV	0–5	AZ	Veenendaal
		Summary	Gudelj 9' Gouweleeuw 17' Elm 80' Mühren 82' Rosheuvel 90'	Stadium: Sportpark Panhuis Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Martin van den Kerkhof

AZ v NEC

17 December 2014 Round of 16	AZ	2–1	NEC	Alkmaar
	Tanković 33', 62' (pen.) Haye  90+2'	Summary	Santos  38' Daemen  62' Limbombe 66'	Stadium: AFAS Stadion Attendance: 8,066 Referee: Tom van Sichem

Twente v AZ

27 January 2015 Quarter-final	Twente	3–0	AZ	Enschede
	Castaignos 24' Ziyech 44', 62'	Summary	Ortiz  13' Poulsen  38' Gouweleeuw  66'	Stadium: De Grolsch Veste Attendance: 18,600 Referee: Kevin Blom

Statistics

More information Rank, Player ...

Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. -(-) Total -(-)

Goals conceded Against (pen.) Scorers EVV - - Total -(-)

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More information Player, League starts ...

Player	League starts	(pen.)			Unused sub.	Cup starts	(pen.)			Unused sub.
01. Esteban Alvarado	3	-6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
02. Mattias Johansson	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
03. Jeffrey Gouweleeuw	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
04. Jan Wuytens	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
06. Celso Ortiz	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
07. Guus Hupperts	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
08. Nemanja Gudelj (c)	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
09. Aron Jóhannsson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10. Markus Henriksen	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11. Muamer Tanković	4	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12. Viktor Elm	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
14. Wesley Hoedt	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
15. Simon Poulsen	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17. Djavan Anderson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18. Mikhail Rosheuvel	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
19. Eli Babalj	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20. Thom Haye	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
21. Robert Mühren	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
22. Steven Berghuis	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23. Derrick Luckassen	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
24. Ridgeciano Haps	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
25. Sergio Rochet	1	-1	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
16. Yves De Winter	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

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Squad Numbers

Loanees

Domestic

More information Player, Team ...

Player	Team	League starts	(pen.)			Unused sub.	Cup starts	(pen.)			Unused sub.
Joris van Overeem	Dordrecht	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jonas Heymans	Willem II	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Denni Avdić	Heracles Almelo	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fernando Lewis	Go Ahead Eagles	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Foreign

More information Player, Team ...

Player	Team	League XI	(pen.)			Unused sub.	League Cup XI	(pen.)			Unused sub.	European Competition XI	(pen.)
Donny Gorter	Aalborg BK	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Accurate as of matchday four.

The following first team players played for their respective nations during the 2014–15 season:

As of 04/07/2014^[45]

More information Rank, Country ...

Rank	Country	Team	Points
34		Galatasaray	47.980
35		Dynamo Kyiv	47.166
36		AZ	45.612
37		Lazio	45.568
38		Athletic Bilbao	43.299

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