A contented Louis van Gaal at a recent AZ training session
AZ Alkmaar have clinched the Dutch league championship for only the second time in their history.
Louis van Gaal's side were crowned champions for the first time since 1981 after PSV Eindhoven beat Ajax - the only team who could catch them.
Twente Enschede, managed by former England boss Steve McLaren, are second, leading Ajax by one point.
It is the sixth league title for Van Gaal, 57, after he steered Ajax to three successes and Barcelona to two.
I'm not ready to be the Alex Ferguson of AZ
Louis van Gaal
AZ operate on a budget of just £25m - much less than most Premier League clubs receive from just their television rights income - and their title success will allow Van Gaal to make a return to the Champions League next season.
In 1995 Van Gaal won the Champions League with Ajax.
AZ had a poor season last year, finishing 11th, and the coach offered to resign.
The players, however, took responsibility for their under-par performances and persuaded him to stay, but after two matches they had failed to register a point.
Things swiftly changed and Van Gaal's master stroke was uncovering a key player in prolific Moroccan striker Mounir El Hamdaoui, who scored his 22nd league goal on Saturday in AZ's 2-1 home defeat by Vitesse Arnhem.
In a recent interview with Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Van Gaal said he intended to leave AZ, which is based in a northern Dutch city of less than 100,000 people, after next season.
"I still have the ambition to be the manager of a major country, to compete in a Cup tournament," said Van Gaal
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