A good statistic for AZ: of all Eredivisie clubs, the Alkmaarders made the most use of their own youth players last season. According to CIES Football Observatory, 43.4 percent of play minutes are made by youth experts.
This means that AZ not only occupies first place in the Netherlands, but also scores well from a European perspective with a fifteenth place. The criterion used by the Swiss research agency is that a player between the ages of 15 and 21 must have played for the club for at least three years.
AZ amply trumps the Eredivisie rivals. Ajax follows in second place with 37.4 percent, ahead of PSV (33.6) and Feyenoord (32.2). From a European perspective, Czech Sigma Olomouc (66.7%) scores highest. Of the five European top competitions, Athletic Bilbao (48.3%) can provide the best figures, for Celta de Vigo (44.3%).
‘AZ is number one in this ranking for the fifth consecutive year,’ the North Holland club proudly announces through the official channels. In the 2019-20 season, ten players came into action for AZ for the first time who have played in the youth academy. Teun Koopmeiners (2,217 minutes), Calvin Stengs (2,158), Owen Wijndal (2,107), Myron Boadu (2,019), Ron Vlaar (780), Pantelis Hatzidiakos (739), Thomas Ouwejan (438), Ferdy Druijf (222), Joris Kramer (27) and Kenzo Gold Mine (4).
???? 43.4% of all @ premier league minutes were made by their own youth last season.
AZ This makes AZ the # 15 in Europe and # 1 in the Netherlands.
ℹ️ https://t.co/6944Z7yg3K#AZYouth #CIES #AZ pic.twitter.com/OnCL0Lj8YJ
– AZ Youth Academy (@AZJeugd) May 13, 2020
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