article_snippet: Despite being a great football club with a storied history, being a great football club with a storied history face many of the challenges we have with the Oakland A's.
article_snippet: My love for football and AZ's vision of the future of top-tier Dutch club made this an attractive pursuit.
article_snippet: The A's have qualified for MLB's playoffs each of the past three seasons, only to be knocked out before the World Series every time.
article_snippet: That's what really connects with the ambitions of AZ.
article_snippet: Like the A's, AZ have managed to compete with the big boys of the Dutch league -- chiefly PSV and Ajax -- on a limited budget, winning the domestic league twice -- most recently in 2009 -- while finishing in the top five in three of the past five seasons.