[22] On 1 August 2001, Van der Sar opted to play in England and joined newly promoted Fulham in a shock move worth £7 million, signing a four-year contract.

[23][24] The following day, Van der Sar was officially unveiled by Fulham, and upon his arrival, he described the move as a "nice friendly atmosphere" and that he felt "appreciated".

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.

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

[36] 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.

[39][40] His clean sheet record ended on 4 March, when he made an error allowing Peter Løvenkrands of Newcastle United to score after nine minutes.

[44] 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.

[48] 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.

[49] On 23 December 2010, British press reported that Sir Alex Ferguson had confirmed Van der Sar would retire at the end of the 2010–11 Premier League season.

[51] On 12 March, Van der Sar was named Man of the Match against Arsenal in the FA Cup after making several fine saves.

Van der Sar backstopped the Netherlands to the semi-finals of the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where they were eliminated by Brazil 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

Van der Sar kept another clean sheet in the semi-final against Italy, resulting in a goalless draw after Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert both failed to score from the penalty spot in regulation time.

The match went to a penalty shoot-out, and although Van der Sar saved the effort from Italy captain Paolo Maldini, the Netherlands scored just one of their four kicks and lost 3–1.

[60] As captain of the Netherlands, he broke Frank de Boer's record of all-time caps for his country in the 2006 World Cup second-round match against Portugal.

One of the very first to have brought a new perspective was Edwin van der Sar, who played a lot with his feet and allowed the position to enter a new phase.

Regarded as one of the greatest and most complete keepers in football history,[5][6] Van der Sar was a large, athletic, yet slender goalkeeper, who excelled at coming off his line to handle crosses due to his height and physique; an intelligent goalkeeper, in addition to his reflexes, excellent positional sense, and shot-stopping abilities, he was also known for his calm composure, longevity, and his ability to organise his defence.

The match featured the goalkeeper's "dream team", consisting of Wayne Rooney, John Heitinga, Louis Saha, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidić, André Ooijer, Dirk Kuyt, Gary Neville, Michael Carrick, Edgar Davids, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Boudewijn Zenden, and Dennis Bergkamp, with Alex Ferguson as manager.

The Netherlands squad featured among others Wim Jonk, Dennis Bergkamp, Roy Makaay, Ruud Hesp, Aron Winter, Richard Witschge and Pierre van Hooijdonk, and was managed by Guus Hiddink.

[82] During the event, it was announced that Van der Sar would be working as an analyst for the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting covering the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.

[83] Van der Sar's son, Joe, made written comments stating his father would be working as a goalkeeping coach at Ajax within five years.

Van der Sar himself said he did not want to make a full commitment to this, but confirmed it was likely and he was interested in building up his coaching career slowly, starting at the lower levels.

[84] On 27 May 2012, Van der Sar participated in the Soccer Aid 2012 Match, playing for the Rest of the World side in the first half, making a full-length save from John Bishop.

[86] On 12 March 2016, Van der Sar made a brief return to football to play a single match for his former youth club VV Noordwijk.

[90] Van der Sar's son, Joe, was on the pitch celebrating when his father saved a penalty in the Netherlands' 5–4 shoot-out victory over Sweden in the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2004.

[89] In December 2009, Van Kesteren was admitted to the hospital just two days before Christmas,[91] reports said she had suffered a suspected brain haemorrhage and was in a "very poor" condition.

[92] Van der Sar was granted indefinite leave following his wife's collapse, and it is understood that she has made a good recovery, with no long-term effects.