AZ ALKMAAR
UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, Thursday 11 April 2023, 9pm CEST (8pm BST)
West Ham United are contesting a major European semi-final for the second straight season, with Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar providing the opposition in the UEFA Europa Conference League last-four.
The Irons suffered the disappointment of losing 3-1 on aggregate to German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt at the same stage of last season’s Europa League, when a first-minute goal at London Stadium set the Londoners on the back foot at the beginning of the first leg.
David Moyes made a better start this time around, winning the first leg 2-1 at London Stadium last week, but they will still need to be on their guard against an AZ side who have defeated Tuzla City, Dundee United, Gil Vicente, Dnipro-1, Vaduz, Apollon Limassol, Lazio and Anderlecht to reach this stage.
That said, West Ham have won 12 of their 13 Conference League ties themselves, overcoming Viborg, Silkeborg, Anderlecht, FCSB, AEK Larnaca and Gent to get to the semi-finals.
The reward for the winners over two legs is a place in the final at the Eden Arena in Prague on Wednesday 7 June…
In Alkmaar…
A 'Meeting Point' has been designated for West Ham United fans travelling to Alkmaar, situated at Paardenmarkt.
Food and drinks and entertainment will be available from 2-8pm local time, with free shuttle buses departing for AZ Stadium from 6.30pm until kick-off. This is the only way to travel from the Meeting Point to the stadium, access to which is limited to supporters with tickets travelling by shuttle bus.
Shuttle buses will also take supporters from the stadium to Alkmaar railway station after the game for travel back to Amsterdam. From the railway station, it is a ten-minute walk to the Meeting Point.
Supporters must be in possession of a valid match ticket and acceptable identification, which must be produced upon request.
How to get there…
The easiest routes are by either flying or taking the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam, then a train from Centraal station to Alkmaar.
If you are travelling direct from Schipol Airport to Alkmaar, missing out Amsterdam Centraal, take a train to Zaandam or Amsterdam Sloterdijk and change for Alkmaar.
If you fancy driving, take the ferry or Eurotunnel to northern France. Drive east along the A16 and E40 over the border into Belgium, past Bruges to Gent, then the R4 north to Zelzate, the E25 and R2 to the west of Antwerp, then the A12 north across the Dutch border. The northbound A4 and A29 take you as far as Rotterdam, then it’s the A16, A20, A13, A4 and A5 past The Hague and Amsterdam, before the A9 takes you the final 20 miles to Alkmaar.
If you take the ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland, leave the port and take the N223 and N22 to the A4, then follow the same directions as above.
From Alkmaar station, it is a ten-minute taxi to AZ Stadion on the southern outskirts of the city.
Where to stay…
Accommodation options in Alkmaar are limited, as West Ham United supporters have already booked most available rooms at time of writing.
So, your best option is to stay in Amsterdam, which has the full range of accommodation from luxury hotels to hostels and is situated just 40 minutes from Alkmaar on the train.
What to do…
Amsterdam is a very popular tourist destination, with millions of people visiting the Dutch city every year.
Amsterdam is home to many world-famous museums, including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Rembrandt House, Hermitage, Anne Frank House and others, as well as concert halls and other cultural and historical attractions, including the Royal Palace and Heineken Experience.
You could also take a canal cruise, hire a bicycle and join the thousands of locals who use their bike to travel around their city.
If you stay in Alkmaar itself, you can also take a boat on the canals visit the Dutch Cheese Museum in Waagplein and, on the Friday morning after the game, head back to Waagplein between 10am-1pm to view the city’s famous Cheese Market.
What’s happened there before…
This will be our first ever away meeting with AZ Alkmaar. However, we have been to the Netherlands on a number of occasions previously.
We first visited on a post-season tour in May 1925, when we faced Ajax, Vitesse and Swallows Rotterdam, before returning again four years later, then again for tours in 1930 and 1937.
May 1959 saw the Irons take on Fortuna in a friendly, but their next visit in March 1976 was far more important – a European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, which ended 4-2 in favour of hosts Den Haag.
We travelled to face the same opponents in friendlies in 1981 and 1982, then Ajax in 1983, Den Haag again in 1986 and PSV in 1987. After winning 1-0 at Heerenveen in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in August 1999, our most-recent trip to Holland saw us draw 1-1 at Den Haag in August 2005.
