“My nephew could have made this even better”, AZ fans divided about the new season ticket

In the Facebook group ‘Je bent AZ’er als…’, various people share photos and opinions about their new season tickets. “And to think that someone gets paid for the design on that card too,” someone writes. “Also inside, but give me my old season ticket, this one is so cheap…”, another responds.

Emil Margreiter is also not satisfied with his new map, to say the least. The 46-year-old Uitgeester has had a season ticket since the mid-1990s and is currently sitting in section X2 of the AFAS Stadium, behind one of the goals. Emil has worn quite a few cards since then and therefore has a firm opinion about the latest version of the annual subscription at AZ.

“This is the ugliest card I’ve had,” he tells NH over the phone. “It’s just one big red surface. My eight-year-old nephew could have made this even more beautiful.”

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“You have to look closely to see something in it,” Emil explains. “You see the arch on top of the stadium, but it’s dwarfed by the red plane. Then you just have the logo and big white letters with ‘season ticket’. You can’t tell me they’re paying someone to design this.”

The 22-year-old Rick from Alkmaar thinks the card is too impersonal. “I miss a bit of extra identity that such a card can give to the club.” He also has an idea about how AZ could do that. “I would personalize the season ticket per section, so show some nice fireworks on the Ben-Side (where the hard core of AZ is, ed.) And show happy children at section J (a section where many young fans are, ed.), for example.”

Gold card

In the years before that, Emil and Rick both had golden season tickets: the plastic card was literally golden. The supporters received this because of their support during corona time. If the fans did not want their money back for the missed matches due to the corona measures, they received such a golden card as a token of appreciation.

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“The idea behind that was fun,” explains Emil. “And the water tower of Alkmaar was on it, really a symbol of the city of Alkmaar.” “That card was a nice idea to express appreciation to the supporters,” Rick adds.

Piece of plastic

Not all fans are unhappy with their new map. This is how one of them responds on Facebook: “Nice sleek design. You don’t have to show it off, do you?” Sandra Veen-Snoeks also does not fully see the problem, she says. “I like it that way, although I liked the gold one better. Because of the color and the water tower on it.”

You could also say: who cares what that card looks like? After all, it is just a piece of plastic that you use to enter the stadium. But Emil sees it differently. “It’s a collector’s item for me. I’ve kept all the season tickets I’ve had and put them in a folder. Just like I collect scarves and shirts. My girlfriend thinks it’s nonsense, but it has value to me,” he laughs. “That’s why a season ticket can radiate something, I think.”