West Ham United v AZ Alkmaar
UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, London Stadium, Thursday 11 May 2023, 8pm BST
West Ham United’s European campaign continues at London Stadium on Thursday with the first leg of our UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) semi-final tie against AZ Alkmaar from the Netherlands.
The Hammers will be looking to book their place in a first major European final in 47 years and the third in the Club's history following appearances in the 1965 and 1976 European Cup Winners' Cup finals.
David Moyes' side have won eleven of their 12 ties in this season's UECL, defeating Cypriots AEK Larnaca (6-0 on aggregate) in the round of 16 and Belgian Cup holders KAA Gent (5-2) in the quarter-finals, following a perfect six wins from six in Group B as Danes Silkeborg IF, Romanians FCSB and Gent’s fellow Belgians RSC Anderlecht were all seen off.
AZ have won even more European matches than the Hammers this season, 13, and began their UECL campaign back on 21 July 2022! Since then, Pascal Jansen's side have defeated Tuzla City of Bosnia and Herzegovina (5-0), Dundee United (7-1), Gil Vicente of Portugal (6-1), won five out of six Group E ties against Dnipro-1 of Ukraine, Apollon Limassol of Cyprus and Vaduz of Liechtenstein, then defeated Lazio of Italy (4-2) and Anderlecht (4-1 on penalties after a 2-2) to set up a semi-final meeting with the Irons.
Alkmaar have reached one European final previously, when they lost 5-4 on aggregate to Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town in the two-legged 1981 UEFA Cup final.
The second leg of the semi-final will be played at AZ Stadion on Thursday 18 May, with the winners facing either Fiorentina of Italy or FC Basel of Switzerland in the final in Prague, Czechia, on Wednesday 7 June.
Tickets…
Tickets for Thursday's tie are SOLD OUT.
Travel...
TfL services will run without any alterations, while Greater Anglia and c2c rail services will also run as normal on Thursday!
On Southeastern Railway, a number of late-night services from London St Pancras into Kent will be subject to replacement bus services for part of their routes.
How to Follow...
Thursday's tie will be broadcast live in the UK by BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, with kick-off at 8pm GMT.
You can also follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Official Programme...
West Ham United's 116-page Official Programme for Thursday's tie with AZ Alkmaar is on sale now.
With London Stadium set to host another memorable European night under the lights, we have produced a bumper issue crammed full of exclusive interviews and exciting content for fans of all ages, complete with a double-sided A3 poster.
The Irons' Official Programme is available to order online now for just £4, plus £1.49 postage and packaging*.
Team News...
West Ham United have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Thursday's tie, but will be without Gianluca Scamacca (knee), while Vladimír Coufal (hamstring) and Kurt Zouma (ankle) are both doubts after missing Sunday's Premier League victory over Manchester United.
AZ Alkmaar will be without Hungarian left-back Milos Kerkez through suspension. Captain and former Stoke City centre-back Bruno Martins Indi (thigh), goalkeeper Sem Westerveld (knee), Sweden forward Jesper Karlsson (leg) and attacking midfielder Dani de Wit (foot) have also not travelled.
UECL Information...
- Goal Line Technology will be in operation for this fixture.
- VAR is now operational in the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout rounds.
- Up to 12 substitutes can be named by each manager. Five substitutes are permitted to be used on three occasions, plus half-time. There are no additional ‘concussion substitutes’ available in UEFA Club Competition.
- In the event that the tie goes to extra-time then a sixth substitute and an additional substitution opportunity is available.
- Disciplinary-wise, all accumulated yellow cards expired upon completion of the quarter-finals.
Opposition...
To West Ham United supporters of a certain age, the name AZ Alkmaar will conjure visions of red and white shirts, Johnny Metgod and the 1981 UEFA Cup final.
Of course, the 1970s was the decade of Total Football, when the Oranje of Johan Cruyff wowed the world with their pass-and-move, position-free style of play that took them to two FIFA World Cup finals and Cruyff’s club Ajax to three consecutive European Cup finals.
Come the end of the decade, Ajax remained the dominant force in Dutch football, alongside traditional rivals Feyenoord of Rotterdam and PSV of Eindhoven. However, a fourth club was threatening that dominance – AZ ’67.
Formed in 1967 by the merger of two second-tier clubs, Alkmaar '54 and FC Zaanstreek, AZ ’67 was based in the city of Alkmaar in North Holland, around 25 miles north of Amsterdam.
Famed for its cheesemaking, Alkmaar now had a football club which quickly rose to the country’s top-flight, the Eredivisie, thanks to the financial backing of its owners, brothers, former Alkmaar ‘54 players and appliance store chain owners Cees and Klaas Molenaar.
Financed by the Molenaars, AZ ’67 grew stronger and stronger, won their first major trophy by beating Ajax in the 1978 Dutch Cup final, and regularly qualified for European competition in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1980/81, AZ ’67 enjoyed the best season in their history, as a team led by defenders Metgod and Hugo Hovenkamp, midfielder Jan Peters, strikers Kees Kist and Kristen Nygaard and managed by German Georg Keßler won the Eredivisie title for the first time, lifted Dutch Cup for a second time and reached the UEFA Cup final, where only a stirring second-leg comeback from Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town denied them an historic treble.
Keßler departed following another Dutch Cup success in 1982, and, following the death of Cees and the departure of Klaas in the years that followed, a period of decline began, culminating in relegation in 1988. AZ remained in the second-tier, the Eerste divisie, for eight seasons, won promotion, were relegated again immediately, then returned to the Eredivisie in 1998. They have been there ever since.
By the mid-2000s, AZ were again challenging the top teams in the Netherlands and, after a series of near-misses, won the Eredivisie title for a second time in 2008/09, when a squad managed by Louis van Gaal finished eleven points clear of Steve McClaren’s FC Twente.
Four years later, the club won its fourth Dutch Cup, with American forward Jozy Altidore firing AZ to victory over PSV. While further major trophies have eluded the men from Alkmaar, AZ have continued to impress, finishing in the Eredivisie’s top six in each of the previous nine seasons.
Without the resources of the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV, AZ relies on its outstanding scouting and coaching to recruit and develop young talent, with the likes of future Premier League players Mousa Dembélé, Vincent Janssen, Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson, Wout Weghorst, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Steven Berghuis among those to spend time at the club in the past 15 years.
Previous Meetings….
This will be our first-ever 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.
Match Officials…
Referee: Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)
Assistant Referees: Mustafa Eyisoy & Kerem Ersoy (Turkey)
Fourth Official: Maurizio Mariani (Italy)
VAR: Paolo Valeri (Italy)
Assistant VAR: Abdulkadir Bitigen (Italy)
FIFA official Halil Umut Meler will referee Thursday's tie.
The 36-year-old started his career in Turkey's Third League in 2013, before being promoted to the top-flight Süper Lig two years later.
Meler was added to the FIFA list in 2017 and promoted to the UEFA Elite list last year. He has been busy this season, taking charge of 23 matches, including 14 Süper Lig games, three each in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, and three internationals.
