The success of Dirk Scheringa

Monday 20 April 2009

'Diiiiiirruk, Dirruk, we zijn de kampioen,' (Dirk, we are the champion) it sounded at exactly 7 PM on Sunday.

Thousands of AZ fans had gathered at the DSB Stadium after PSV had beaten Ajax, and they were chanting at AZ-chairman Dirk Scheringa who had come out onto the stadiums balcony first.

The richest man of Alkmaar enjoyed it as if he had personally scored the goals needed to win the first league title since 1981.

Not coach, Louis van Gaal, topscorer Mounir El Hamdaoui or captain Stijn Schaars, but Dirk Scheringa (58), owner and chairman of the club since 1993 was the first to receive the credits from the fans.

In winning the league title Scheringa saw one of his biggest dreams come true.

He had to wait for it a day longer than planned as he had witnessed the surrealistic event a day earlier, when AZ lost at home to Vitesse.

On Sunday night, fifteen minutes after PSV-Ajax (6-2), in a small town exploding with joy, Scheringa hardly new what to do with himself.

"The real joy will come over the next few days. At the moment I still have to get used to it a bit. The failed championship match against Vitesse was quite a blow."

While everyone was anticipating a big party to celebrate the championship, AZ lost 1-2 and put the DSB stadium in tears.

It wasn't going to go wrong again, was it?

Not just for the club, but for Scheringa himself the defeat was hard to swallow.

Especially for this game Scheringa had his aging parents come down to the stadium.

It had been a long trip for the couple of over 80 years, and the chairman had reserved two special seats saw they could get some of the atmosphere in the stadium their son had created.

"It was the first time since the opening of the stadium they were present," Scheringa explained.

It was an emotional moment to see the proud Scheringa Sr (84) around his successful son in the boxes in the top of the stadium.

Scheringa Jr.: "A few years ago I almost lost him. The doctors had given up on him and he was seriously ill. That is why it's so great he could be here now."

The KNVB had already taken the Championship Shield from the safe in the boardroom some 115 minutes from the end of the game, because with Twente being 1-0 down in Rotterdam everyone was convinced that AZ were going to celebrate after the final whistle.

But the second Vitesse goal lamed all in the stadium as well as Dirk Scheringa.

An anticlimax square 2.

At first Scheringa tried to hide his sadness.

He seem to find it worse for his parents than for himself.

"They will have to travel all the way back in the middle of the night. It's a bit sad," Scheringa said in the dead quiet backrooms of the stadium.

Shortly before the end of the game Scheringa had left his father's side with the idea to raise a glass with him after the game, as it's a ritual that Scheringa spends the last ten minutes of the game at the side of coach Louis van Gaal.

"So I did this time as well. It was 1-1 at the time and it seemed we had one it at that moment. But just as I arrived down there that strange shot of Büttner went in.''

He hung around the stadium until the early hours of the morning.

Scheringa went through all the possible scenarios of the day that would follow?

"Until very late we discussed what should happen if were to be champions on Sunday after all."

The planned boat trip through the canals of Alkmaar was postponed until next week, but on the small balcony just outside the board roam there was a make shift celebration as was requested by the fans who had come to the stadium.

The players had watched the game PSV-Ajax on TV.

When that game was over the players burst into celebrations and Scheringa hugged Louis van Gaal, the man who helped this group of youngsters win their first bit of silverware ever.

Scheringa: "We have been so close a few times over the last few years. We have now broken the traditional Big Three and that in itself is a great thing".