The Alkmaarderhout is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Alkmaarderhout Alkmaarderhout, locally known as "De Hout" (Dutch for "the wood(s)"), in a city park in Alkmaar, North Holland, Netherlands. The park is one of the oldest city parks in the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = ...

, a city park in

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

, Netherlands. It was used from 1948 until 2006, when it was replaced by the

AFAS Stadion AFAS Stadion is a stadium in Alkmaar, Netherlands. It is used for football matches and is the home stadium of AZ Alkmaar. The stadium is able to hold 19.478 people and bears the name of a Dutch software company. Due to UEFA's sponsorship regulatio ...

. The Alkmaarderhout was the home ground of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

. The stadium had a capacity of 8,914 people. In 2006, it was replaced by the new, state-of-the-art AFAS Stadion (then known as the DSB Stadion) and it was knocked down later that year. The final game at the Alkmaarderhout was an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

between two AZ sides, one captained by

Michael Buskermolen Michael Buskermolen (born 2 March 1972) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played for AZ for his entire professional career. Club career He spent all of his sixteen-year career at AZ, initially appearing for first team in the 1990– ...

and the other by

Barry van Galen Bart "Barry" van Galen (; born 4 April 1970, in Haarlem) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He debuted in Dutch professional football on 17 August 1991 (Haarlem - Telstar 2–1) and internationally for the Netherlands national team on ...

, both of whom retired after that game.

References

AZ Alkmaar Sports venues in Alkmaar Sports venues completed in 1948 Defunct football venues in the Netherlands Multi-purpose stadiums in the Netherlands Urban public parks {{Netherlands-sports-venue-stub