Man Utd legend makes emotional return to playing football 16 months after brain haemorrhage

Edwin van der Sar has made a heartwarming to the pitch in a charity match for following a brain haemorrhage last year.

The iconic Dutch goalkeeper, 54, played for a raft of top clubs during his illustrious career, including the Amsterdam giants and , who were his last club before he retired from professional football.

chose to transition into an executive role after hanging up his gloves and worked his way up through the ranks at Ajax. He eventually became the club's chief executive officer before falling ill.

Thankfully, the Dutchman has recovered well since in Croatia last year. And Van der Sar was even well enough to don the goalkeeping gloves one more time this weekend.

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The former Old Trafford favourite was one of a number of players who rolled back the years to feature in a charity match pitting a team of Ajax Legends against an opposing team from for the former's 125th anniversary celebrations.

Van der Sar had earlier shared a post on social media hyping the event, sharing a picture of a ball at his feet. He said: "Last session done before the Ajax Legends match this Sunday vs Real Madrid. Anyone else looking forward to the game?"

The sight of Van der Sar playing football again, albeit in a one-off game, will be a welcome sight to many Manchester United fans.

What are your top Van der Sar memories, Man Utd fans?

They gave their former goalkeeper for the fixture against on Day last year whilst still recovering from his brain haemorrhage. Van der Sar won a staggering 11 trophies during his six years at Old Trafford after joining the Red Devils from rivals, .

After returning to his role as Ajax CEO following his recovery, Van der Sar stood following the Dutch giants' calamitous 2022-23 campaign.

In a statement, he explained: “After almost eleven years on the board, I am done. We have experienced wonderful things together, but it has also been an incredibly tough period. I am very grateful for the people I have met and worked with during my second career at Ajax, and what we have achieved and been through together.

“I feel the need to take some distance, to get some rest, and to do other things. It doesn’t feel good to take decisions about the future of this wonderful club in the coming period. That is why I have decided to resign.”