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I'll shake this back off just after this glass. It's an honor to wear these colors. With us, Promise finds fertile ground. From early on, we understood that youth was to be our way to the top. And by nurturing our youth, we never lost our ways. We know how to recognize promise. And our methods have often turned them into legends. We are known for changing the game. Our game to win. Our game to win. Our game to win. Our game to win. Our game to win. Our game to win. Our game to win. With flair and audacity, our game that we have exported around the world. It makes that we are the dreams of future generations. We are a city of unknown faces. We are a city of unknown faces. We are a city of unknown faces. We are a city of unknown faces. We are a city of unknown faces. A force not easily stopped. Praised for their creativity and ambition. For them, we have a legacy to uphold. For them, we believe in the future. So, good morning everyone. So I'd like to welcome on stage part of IAX's past and future, the director of IAX, Edwin van der Sar. Morning. So, watching that video, does it... Are you very proud? What are you more proud of, your time at IAX or maybe your great achievements at Man United? No, I think it's the whole spectrum. I made my debut at IAX, at this club. When you're 19, you come to IAX and everything, and you never know that your career is going to take so long. And I finished when I was 40, so I played nine years here. I played a couple of years at Juventus, Fulham, and my last six years at United. I think the first one and your last club, you're never going to forget. At both clubs, I won the Champions League, so it's an amazing time, but the philosophy of both clubs are also quite similar. And in that way, I'm proud on both teams. So, at the end of your football career, I assume you could have become a goalkeeping coach or ambassador, but why marketing? Why did you move to better marketing? Yeah, I think that comes from the last couple of years at United. I was 40 when I retired, and we had those trips at the start of the season, for example, to China, to America, and you had two weeks with the team. I just heard that you were part of PlayStation 4, I think. Yeah, for a while, and I did it also when I was younger, but after a certain age, your interests go into something bigger, and that was on the commercial side, and all those trips were, of course it was training, but the commercial partners had always traveled, and I found it interesting why the decision to go to a country, what do you want to get out of it, how does it work, football and commerce. And that's where it triggered myself a little bit, and when I finally had to call time on my career, what are you going to do? And after being a goalkeeping coach or being a manager, everybody is choosing that path. I wanted to see if my experiences with United or with the national team can also be transferred in a different way, and that's why I did a master in sports management when I retired, and that's why it opened my eyes for a lot of things, and I tried to see if you can, I think, Johan Cruyff, who was a big fighter for sports, for athletes, to not only do your sport but also try to develop you besides that, and he created a path that brought me into the position as director at the club. Did you learn anything from a particular manager or people at Man United that has helped you now? Did you learn something from them as a player that you can now use now? I use a lot for things that I think I was a good goalkeeper and everything, but I think my main thing was making sure that every position was well filled. I love to talk all the time to the coach, making sure that every angle was covered, and I think that's a little bit the same with my role at the moment. You have different departments under you, and also it's a lot of making sure that everybody is active in the way that the right back should be thoughtful if the ball is on the left side, or a midfielder knows what's happening around them, or when the ball is on the right and it comes across your center half, I could see if the striker was coming in the back of the center half. I tried to use that also with the master program. Things come from the top, or the CEO has to give the examples and everything. I wrote an article, the headline was like, leading from the back. I always like to have, I always had everything in front of me, because everything behind me was bad. You don't want a goal in a ball and you go. I like to try to push, because we needed to score there, so I need to push my defenders, my midfielders and everything, and also the people that work at Ajax now and everything. We need to go forward, we need to go to that goal, and you have a specific thing in your mind that was as a player, but also at the marketing department or the commercial department, you need to score, you need to find a new sponsor, you need a new way to attract, to reach your fans. I think we use that way a little bit also. Okay, great. Sorry, I didn't answer your question. Did you learn anything from a manager or something? Yeah, one in particular. Okay, in a timeframe of 20 years, you experience bad managers, great managers. For example, Louis van Gaal was the best coach I had. He learned you tactic, technical stuff, but for example Ferguson was a completely different guy. I didn't learn anything on the technical side from him, but being a manager, being overlooking a whole array of stars, making sure that everybody was working together, pulling on the same cord, that was something that he was a master in, and he was using you in a right way, but he also told me, like even players who give you success, and you grew up with them, and they give everything to you, at a certain point you have to cut them loose, because they're not the players what they used to be. I think that's the important lesson also, that you're always be true to whatever, have faith and support. Also make sure it's your head on the line at a certain point, so you have to make a decision. Don't let anyone else make a decision for you. You make a decision. Excellent, excellent, very interesting. So you've been back at Ajax now for around four years, and in that time, digital revolution has changed a lot of the world we live in. How have you seen digital change what goes on at Ajax and what you do? Yeah, it changed a lot. For example, I came in as head of marketing director, of course in a company or in a club at Ajax, you have capable police workers around you that know the subjects. For example, in a contract that we have with Adidas, we have a very loyal partner and sponsor with them. That contract lasted for ten years, but it was signed in 2009. 2009 was social media, nowhere big or influential as it is now. So things change all the time. You used to connect with your fans through whatever, the name of your shirt, the stripes, the LED boarding. Of course it's still necessary for brand awareness and everything, but to reach your fans, to gain access to the millions of followers that you have, it's not only an advertisement in a newspaper, it's nice actions that you can find and reach your fans. Are sponsors asking you for that kind of thing? Are they asking, can we be on your Facebook page, on your website, on your emails? Yeah, of course I think that. Those are negotiations that you go into, A, amount of money, and B, what is the leverage they can get from you and everything. And of course, the impact social media has. But you have to be careful also because our fans, they follow us because they like football. They want to see goals, they want to interact with players, and of course we have 12 sponsors and they want to also get their message across. So in that way we have to really be careful, but in a nice way also, bring out the partnership that we have with those parties, to reflourish the close relation with your fans, and try to bring that over to the products that our commercial partners have. Yeah, you're right to say it's that balance. Do you see that digital is having a real commercial value now, so does your Facebook fans? Is it something that you can go to sponsors and say, we think this is worth this much money? Yeah, I think so. If you see for example our Facebook, we have over 2 million followers on Facebook, active users, and we are bigger than the 17 other clubs in Holland. Of course nothing compared to Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, or United. You have to see the context, but parties pay for that connection with fans. For example, our media channels in China and Asia, they're bigger than the stuff that we have in Holland. So it gives a real impact, and it's a real value. It's not only, I think all our stuff that we do, the connection that you make, everything is digital nowadays. We have met so many nice, for example, I'll give you one example, every year we have an open day, where all our fans can visit the club, and our marketing department came up with an idea, let's say, send us a picture with a player that you liked from the past, and why you would like to meet him again. That actually went crazy, because so many people wanted to meet the hero they had when they were maybe 12, and then meet him again 20 years later. So they send us pictures with their story, and we picked out three, and brought those three players back to Ajax at the same spot where they took the picture 20 years ago, and they had an hour, an hour and a half with them, and we followed them with cameras and everything and put it online. That emotion that connects fans with the club, and you incorporate it with a sponsor. That way it's a win-win situation for all of us. You mentioned Asia there, the thing about digital is that video is on YouTube, YouTube is a very global platform, it can be seen by fans anywhere in the world. So I imagine Ajax content is now viewed across the world. I believe you've done some deals with some Chinese partners, is that part of Ajax's overall strategy to move into other countries? Yeah, of course I think we're a worldwide club, I think the name is iconic, the shirt is iconic. We have a certain philosophy of the club, we like to bring in academy players from our academy into our first team. So we like to develop our own players, and that's something that is not unique, but the amount of players that come into the team and from there on spread to Europe, that's fantastic. So we not only focus on Holland, and of course from the 12 sponsors we have, 3 are Chinese, that's money that you don't find here in Holland, so around 15% is coming from abroad. Of course Adidas has a worldwide appeal, but these companies target us to get their products known in Holland, or also use Ajax, use our players to get to the footballing fans in China. And we just came back, 2 and a half weeks ago we were in China for a week, went to Beijing first with Adidas and Xianyang, a small province city with around 8 million people, I never heard of it, just 8 million, we came there in the evening and we drove on the highway, on the motorway and everything, huge buildings all with LED LED, a futuristic city for example. It's not only about digital and only showing videos, but at a certain point you also have to be there, that they can touch you, and we did one activity with CST, it's a tire company, one of the biggest tire companies in the world, they use our image, they use our fans, they also want to touch you, that's what they did with their 150 most important managers and distributors of the tires, they came to the game at a meeting and from there on they can use it again for activities for them in China. And do the Chinese sponsors, do they want different things from the local Dutch sponsors? No, I think in general it's similar, they want, sorry I rephrased myself, some of them they want plain exposure, they want to see the name on the LEDs, they want the hope that if you score a goal that that name is at the back of the, that's the marketing dream from the marketing record of a company, that's an iconic goal or something that's filmed with their name at the back, and other companies are more interesting in relation marketing, but you can see whatever happens, digital is the key for everything nowadays, it's our movies that we shoot with partners or with sponsors or with activation, we have many more over viewed over more than 2 million, and that's content that you deliver together with players, with your shirt, to the fans, together with your partner. Great, great, and is the Premier League big over there? Are you recognized as a Premier League player? Yeah, I'm fairly everywhere you go in the world, you still get recognized, I went on many tours with United to China, and after 3 or 4,000 people waiting for me at the hotel, you were feeling like a pop star, that's of course less, but because of my height, almost 2 meters, and you're white, and then in China you're quite well recognized, so it's not easy for me, sometimes I got more attention than the players, but I try to use my image, the things that I learned, to bring that to value for the club, and I think that's a win-win situation, the same as a coach, or for example Dennis Bergkamp is active, you saw him in the video, his main passion is football, bringing young players, young kids into the first team, and that's something that all players who started their career at Ajax, want to give back something at Ajax, we went away, went to Arsenal, went to Barcelona, Juventus, May and I learned many different things, but now all bringing that back to Ajax, to make sure that we can rise again, and try to, we won 4 Champions League, last week I went to the Champions League finals, the level of football is unbelievably high, I think the budgets of those clubs, not only the marketing budgets, but the footballing budgets are not something that we can achieve again, so winning the Champions League I think is impossible, but competing on a certain level with the players that you deliver from your own academy, is something that we can do, and that's a story that we also in a digital way, or with little clips and movies, we try to send it to all our fans, and people who have football interest in the world. You talked about Ajax, amazing history of young players, you've got incredible players back at the club, all around the world, do you make an effort with the young players now, to teach them about social media, how to act on social media? Yeah, what I've said is, we have a lot of young players, we have tried to give them a great football education, we have the best coaches, facilities, but also in Holland at 16 you're sort of free to leave school and start working, but also between 16 and 18 we give them a special course, in connection with a university, and try to learn also a different way, not only the footballing skills, but also life skills, and for example people from our media department, or the legal department, or the commercial department, we have special sections that we teach those kids, they're still 16, different values in life, what you need when you become a football player, so they're actually getting skills that they can use when they're 18 or 19, and into the first team, and social media is important, the big brands, the Adidas, the Nikes, the Gatorade, they all want to use images of players, at our club our players are not that big, they're on the way to reaching, to do something in the international football world, but we don't have the Ronaldo's, his Facebook is bigger than Real Madrid, but we're trying to teach them that in a sensible way, you can use it, and in that way make a profile of yourself. You mentioned Ronaldo's Facebook page being bigger than Real Madrid, I can't imagine Ferguson would have been happy with that kind of position, and the power that the players have got, is that a problem for clubs now that the players are big? Yeah, I think Ferguson has a certain philosophy, that nobody is bigger than the club, and I think most of you know that David Beckham, I think he had a couple of arguments with him, and he thought that his wife brought him on the wrong path, more on the showbiz side than the footballing part, I think football players need to, you can say about Ronaldo what you want, but he was there at 9 o'clock in the morning, doing exercises, and training at 10.30 for example, some players came there at 5 minutes to 10, but he was there at 9 o'clock in the gym, working and trying to be the best player, becoming the best player in the world, and he actually said that, but a lot of people say that, a lot of people say I want to be the best in something, but do you put the time and effort and the commitment, really into being the best in what you can do, and he said it from a young age, he always said it, and after training also worked with his free kicks, with his dribbles, with his crosses, Ronaldo is a big brand, but he is not likable, he is not like Messi, he is not like a little cuddly toy or something, he can be irritated, he can get a lot of irritation, but he is somebody who works really hard to get into position where he is, and achieve success. Ferguson always liked to have like a team together, creating a commitment to each other, needs to work harder than the other team, sounds easy, but how do you get that message across to guys who are paid millions of pounds, to make sure that they keep working harder than the other guys, and that has been his strength that he could achieve that. And with the young players that you look after, do you find that the agents are trying to push them across to England for example, maybe too young? Yes of course, I think that because we like to have the value that we create in our players, we like to have that benefit in ourselves in our first team, it is not always easy because TV revenues for example, we are getting about 8 or 9 million euros TV revenue, in England last year the bottom plot had around 70 million pounds, so that is I think around 90-95 million euros, so that is the bottom plot in England, so compared to whatever the Archons and the Mayonites, we are losing that way, but we have a philosophy, we have a nice path that we create for the players, when you are 22 you can have played 150 matches into the first team, and that way you have experience, you have mileage on your clock, we say that in Louis van Gaals English, I don't know the right connection with that, and from there on you can take the step, we like to have our players at least 23-24, that we have the winner, a winner of a couple of titles with us, and at a certain point it is not about money, you want to play against the best players, you want to achieve success, even if you have a company, you want to defeat your rival, you want to find something new, but in a certain way you need competition, and if the competition is too weak, you look in a different country, all digital, that can go, whatever you can do, companies can set up offices in different countries, but a football club is based in one country, one city, and you compete on an international level, and that way it is money, it is needed in the game, but I think it is ruining the real football. Is there anything you can do to keep those players? Trying to create more revenue for yourself, and that way you can pay the players better, but I think that is the stream, that is more money, they are earning more and quicker than money, it is philosophy, where do you believe in, what can you bring to that player, that he signs that contract for you, if you get more success in Europe, maybe they stay a year longer, but the Champions League, that is a big draw for players, and that is why it is unfortunate that we lost our league title on the last day of the season, so that is a disappointment for us and for the whole organization, because you have certain plans, you make budgets, and if you get an influx of money, it makes things easier, but this must give encouragement to the key personnel, the key managers, to work harder, to try to achieve the success next year, that is the thing about football, you always have next year to win the trophy again or the prize. You set a foundation many years ago, do you still have time to work on your foundation? Yes, it is funny, in 2011 I retired, I set up my own foundation, in that year I did my master's in sports management, I did some commercial activity for United, for the national team, for ING, for Heineken, but also set up my own foundation, and that is my wife, the Brain Hemorrhage, around 2009, so she was about in the city, she hardly could speak and walk, and use her legs and everything, so as a player or as a famous person, you get a lot of requests for, go to sick children, do something with handicapped people, or can you save the sweet drugs in Romania, or find water holes in Africa, but when I experienced the whole process, where my wife had to go through, of rehabilitation, then I immediately found something that I wanted to change, and wanted to help other people, that's why I set up my foundation, to help people with brain hemorrhages, or young kids who have accidents on the road, and suffer brain damage, try to help them, and we set up four or five projects, where they can support, interact, meet people, and in an active way, trying to get as much functions back as possible. I'm sure that gives you a lot of pride as well. But having a lot of time to actually be involved, it carries my name, so I have two fantastic people who are working in the name of me, and that's fantastic, it's a great achievement if every time we can open a new project in a different city. Okay, so the final question about managers, so Axel is the new manager, Van Gaal has just gone, Marino is coming to United, what's the process of finding a new manager? Yeah, we experienced ourselves, we had Frank de Boer, a very close friend of mine for over 20 years, so by looking at him I know how he feels, so I think our process started already last year, because at that time he had been four and a half years at the club, and you know, you feel something that maybe you want to go and take a next step, you set up, what does your club need? What is the philosophy of the club and how do you want your players to be playing? Look at your style, look at the background of a coach, does he fit in young players? Can he deal with media, can he deal with sponsors? Not the most important thing, but it's a whole package that you need, and nowadays in the football world it's easy to, whatever, fire managers, and a new manager comes in and he says, I want to buy four players, I don't think that's the way I would like to work, I know in England it's a different style, because there's so much money available, so also the pressure of performing and getting into the Champions League or winning the league title, there's a little bit much higher, those demands are much higher than in Holland. Choosing Murillo over van Gaal, it's a different aspect, a different philosophy also I think, because I think the legacy from Ferguson has been 26, 27 years, and I try to maintain it, first with David Moyes, that they didn't work out, but with van Gaal, somehow it's the best coach I've ever had, by far, but it seems not to be the best manager, making sure that those 22 people also can manage, do you get the best out of South Americans who are earning 7 million, or are only the young players listening to your advice and knowing they still need to build up a career, and in that way want to do everything for you, we had him when we were very young, we did everything for him, and we won the Champions League and reached the next final, so in that way I think, a little bit surprisingly that it didn't work out for him at United, and just see what Murillo, I think Murillo is a quick fix, I don't think he's there for the long run, just trying to get success, trying to get a league title or a semi-final in the Champions League, to achieve that, but it's a tricky way, what's the right fit for a club and a manager, it's not easy, you put them in the criteria, but what, it's all maybe something on the first two games, you win them, then everything is going fine, but you lose, and you're straight away on the back foot, and it's difficult to come back into the game. When you're a selection manager, is it like dating, do you ask them or do they ask you? You get the guys who are not so full of confidence, they approach you, and those are most not the guys that you're going to take, so I think as a club or as a company, you have to put down the criteria for yourself, what do you need from him or her, if it's a company, how can you make a connection, then you start asking around how he is in certain situations, you speak to the manager yourself, you tell the philosophy of the club, you know that there's no 50 million to spend, or you have to play with at least five academy players, those kind of things, and then you have to make a choice, and then you have to fully support him when he comes in, because he doesn't know the surroundings of a club, you have now a new manager who comes from a smaller club than Ajax, maybe you have to know what are the pressure points, what are important people, more exposure through media, what can you do, even your social life is more, you've got more infringements, people come up to you more, you have to get used to that, I've experienced that for the last 22 years, and now four years as a director, I'm used to pressure, and it doesn't do me that much if people write bad about you, or if you're a manager, it doesn't do me that much if people write bad about you, or have an opinion about me or the club, I think it's the main thing that you know what your philosophy is, the way forward, and don't get other people in the way, interrupt the way you want to go with the plan that you have, with the managers that you have, with the way you think, okay, my goal is there, of course you have to listen to people that you cherish, or that you look up to, but if you start listening to journalists or fans, it's almost impossible to do your work in the correct way. Okay, well time's up, good luck with your new manager, and thank you very much today. Alright, thank you very much.
