Career of Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United. He is the Netherlands national football team's most capped player of all time.

Van der Sar started his senior career with Ajax and remained there for nine years before moving to Italian club Juventus and then to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United. He is one of the few footballers to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams, having won it with Ajax in 1995 and Manchester United in 2008, the latter where he was named UEFA Man of the match; he also won the UEFA Cup with Ajax in 1992. Van der Sar was named Best European Goalkeeper in 1995 and 2009, spanning the fourteen-year period between his first and second Champions league victories.

career

Ajax

Born in Voorhout, Van der Sar began his career at his hometown club, Foreholte, and then vv Noordwijk. At a relatively late age, he was brought to the attention of Louis van Gaal, and subsequently signed for Ajax. He enjoyed a long and successful stint in their senior side, winning the 1991–92 UEFA Cup and the 1994–95 UEFA Champions League, as well as the 1995 Best European Goalkeeper award. He kept goal for Ajax in the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, but had to make do with a runner-up medal as they lost the penalty shootout against Juventus. He made a total of 226 appearances for Ajax and scored a penalty for Ajax to complete an 8–1 victory over De Graafschap in the 1997–98 season.

Juventus

In 1999, Van der Sar moved to Italian giants Juventus, where he made 66 Serie A appearances before eventually losing the number 1 spot to Gianluigi Buffon. He became the first non-Italian to keep goal for the Turin club.

Fulham

Not content to stay on the substitutes' bench at Juventus, Van der Sar moved to Premier League club Fulham in 2001, reportedly for around £7.1 million. Initially signing a four-year contract, he notched up 127 league appearances.

Manchester United

Van der Sar moved to Manchester United on 10 June 2005 for a reported fee of £2 million, although the exact transfer fee was undisclosed. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson considered him the best goalkeeper to play for the club since Peter Schmeichel.

On 5 May 2007, his penalty save helped assure a 1–0 triumph over Manchester City in the Manchester derby. The following day, Chelsea's failure to beat Arsenal at the Emirates ensured Manchester United's ninth Premier League trophy and Van der Sar's first. He was also named to the 2006–07 PFA Team of the Year. Three months later, he was a catalyst in Manchester United's 16th FA Community Shield victory, as he saved three consecutive penalties in a shootout after Manchester United and Chelsea played to a 1–1 draw at the end of regular time.

The 2007–08 season was Van der Sar's best season since his arrival; he had several great performances despite a niggling groin injury. He would help United secure their second successive Premier League title on the final day and win the Champions League by saving the final penalty of the shoot-out from Nicolas Anelka.

Van der Sar signed a one-year extension to his current contract with Manchester United on 12 December 2008, keeping him at the club until at least the end of the 2009–10 season.

On 27 January 2009, Van der Sar helped Manchester United set a new club and Premier League record for consecutive clean sheets – the club's 5–0 win over West Bromwich Albion meant that they had gone 11 games and 1,032 minutes without conceding a goal, beating the previous record of 10 matches and 1,025 minutes set by Petr Čech in the 2004–05 season. He then broke the overall English league record in the club's following game four days later, beating the previous record of 1,103 minutes, set by Steve Death of Reading in 1979.[11] Another clean sheet, against West Ham on 8 February 2009, extended the record to 1,212 minutes, beating the British top-flight record of 1,155 minutes previously set by Aberdeen's Bobby Clark in 1971.[12] Finally, on 18 February 2009, Van der Sar further extended the record to 1,302 minutes, and in doing so, he broke José María Buljubasich's single-season world record of 1,289 minutes, set in the Chilean Clausura in 2005.

His clean sheet record ended on 4 March, when he made an error allowing Peter Løvenkrands of Newcastle United to score after 9 minutes. In total, Van der Sar had gone 1,311 minutes without conceding in the league. These clean sheets were a major factor in United clinching their 11th Premiership title as United won a lot of games 1–0 to clinch the title ahead of Liverpool. With a total of 21 clean sheets he also won the Barclays Golden Glove for 2008–09. However, he missed out on winning his third Champions League winners medal as United succumbed to a 2–0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona on 27 May 2009. Nevertheless, he won Best European Goalkeeper award from UEFA for the second time, 14 years after he first won it at Ajax. He was one of the five United players shortlisted for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award but it went to United teammate Ryan Giggs instead.

Van der Sar sustained a finger injury during the Audi Cup pre-season tournament, forcing him to miss the first 12 matches of Manchester United's 2009–10 season. On 6 October 2009, Van Der Sar returned to action for United, playing 90 minutes in the reserves against Everton. On 17 October 2009, he returned to action in the first team, playing in United's 2–1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. On 21 November 2009, Van Der Sar would suffer injury again and be kept out of action for 12 games, with the combination of the Dutchman’s wife suffering a brain haemorrhage just before Christmas. On 16 January 2010, Van Der Sar returned to action in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Van der Sar signed a one-year extension to his current contract with Manchester United on 26 February 2010, keeping him at the club until at least the end of the 2010–11 season.