The stadium officially opened on 4 August 2006 with a
friendly against
Arsenal. AZ lost 3–0, with
Gilberto Silva scoring the stadium's first ever goal. AZ won the first
Eredivisie game in its new home, 8–1 over
NAC Breda, with German midfielder
Simon Cziommer scoring a hat-trick. AFAS Stadion replaced the club's former ground,
Alkmaarderhout. 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 opposite 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 founders of AZ. Some supporters call the stadium Victorie Stadion, alluding to the victory over Spain in the
Siege of Alkmaar in 1573 during the
Eighty Years' War. To further grow the club's budget, the AZ board decided to increase the stadium's capacity to 30,000 seats. This would be achieved by adding a second tier to three of the four stands, leaving the Victorie Tribune untouched. Construction was planned for the second half of 2010, but was delayed indefinitely after the club's main sponsor and one of the main financial contributors to the project,
DSB Bank went bankrupt shortly before work started. As a result, AZ spent the rest of the year playing home matches at the
Cars Jeans Stadion in
The Hague.
Renovation During the 2020–2021 season, the stadium was renovated. A new roof has been put into place with a greater surface and the capacity was increased to hold around 19,500 fans. ==See also==