Edwin van der Sar stops as general director at Ajax. That reports the club Tuesday. Van der Sar’s decision follows a bad season for Ajax, in which the Amsterdam club did not win any prizes and did not qualify for the Champions League. Van der Sar said: “After almost eleven years on the board, I am exhausted. We have experienced very nice things, but it has also been an incredibly difficult period.”
Chairman of the Supervisory Board Pier Eringa wrote: “We wanted Edwin to stay, but his decision was firm and we have to respect that. The past season is not representative of the total period of Ajax under his leadership. The club has experienced many successes, has grown enormously and has also gained international prestige.”
Van der Sar (52), who made a career as a footballer as a goalkeeper at Ajax and the Orange, among others, took up the position of director in 2016. Together with coach Erik ten Hag, who came in 2018, and director of football affairs Marc Overmars, he brought the Amsterdam club to great heights. They became national champions four times in a row, and Ajax seemed to settle back in the international football top when the club reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2018/2019 after victories against top clubs Juventus and Real Madrid. The Ajax players were eliminated in the final seconds of injury time by Tottenham Hotspur.
Ten Hag left for Manchester United in 2022. Overmars also resigned after one NRCresearch into his cross-border apps. Since then it has gone downhill with Ajax, which Van der Sar is charged with a lot. Coach Alfred Schreuder was fired in January, after which John Heitinga led Ajax to a disappointing third place in the Eredivisie. For the first time since 2009, Ajax ends up outside the top two. Van der Sar was also discredited last Wednesday because the Amsterdam women’s team, which won the competition, was not honored at Leidseplein.