AZ to host Ajax in Dec. 15 return to Alkmaar stadium; Roof collapsed in August

AZ will be playing its league match against Ajax in its own stadium on Sunday. After inspecting the AFAS stadium, and advice from TNO, the municipality of Alkmaar decided to release the stadium in time for the match.

Part of the AFAS stadium's roof collapsed during a storm on August 10th. No one was injured. The collapse was caused by carelessly welded connections, engineering firm Royal HaskoningDHV concluded. The club decided to remove almost the entire stadium roof. That work was completed late last month, according to NOS.

"Getting football back to the city as quickly as possible in a safe stadium was the goal from the start", the Alkmaar office of mayor and aldermen said on Tuesday. "The club still has a number of jobs to do, but we are very happy that AZ can play the top match against Ajax in the stadium.'

Since the roof collapse, AZ played most of their matches in the ADO Den Haag stadium. To celebrate their return to Alkmaar, the club launched "The boys are back in town" campaign. "After 7 Premier League matches, 5 Europa League matches, 29 goals, 2 stadiums and more than 2,022 kilometer traveled, we are back." the team said. "Welcome home, welcome back to Alkmaar." Supporters can sign up here to win prizes.