SC Telstar

Sportclub Telstar is a Dutch professional association football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. The club was founded on 17 July 1963, as a merger between the professional departments of rivals VSV and Stormvogels. The new club was named Telstar, after the then recently launched communications satellite.

Telstar plays its home games at the Sportpark Schoonenberg, renamed 711 Stadion, for sponsorship reasons. Since its founding in 1963, the football club has used The Tornados' song "Telstar" as the entrance tune for home games.

History
When professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, both IJVV Stormvogels and neighbouring club VSV played in the professional leagues. VSV won the KNVB Cup in 1938. Because of financial problems at both clubs, their professional teams were merged on 17 July 1963. The new club was named Telstar, after the Telstar communication satellite launched that year. Stormvogels and VSV returned to amateur football. In 2001, Telstar and Stormvogels merged again, this time forming Stormvogels Telstar. This merger was disbanded on 1 July 2008, with the professional branch continuing as Telstar.

Telstar has been a mid-table team in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, in recent years. They have occasionally challenged for promotion to the Eredivisie, but have not been successful in achieving this goal.

In the 2017–18 season, Telstar finished in sixth place in the league table, their highest finish since the 1993–94 campaign, where they finished fifth. The club also made it to the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, where they were eliminated by Feyenoord. The following season, Telstar finished in 14th place in the league table, but once again made a strong showing in the KNVB Cup. The club advanced to the round of 16, where they were beaten 4–3 by Ajax in a thrilling match.

In the 2019–20 season, Telstar finished in tenth place in the league table. The season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with several matches still to be played. The following season saw Telstar finishing in 13th place in the league table.

Stadium
Its home stadium is the 3,625 seater BUKO Stadion. The stadium was opened in 1948 and has undergone several renovations over the years. It is located in Velsen-Zuid, near the city of Haarlem, and is easily accessible by car and public transport.

Honours

 * Eerste Divisie
 * Runners-up: 1963–64

Club names

 * 1963–2001: Telstar
 * 2001–2008: Stormvogels Telstar
 * 2008–present: Telstar

Results
Below is a table with Telstar's domestic results since 1963.

Retired numbers
22 : 🇳🇱 Luciano van den Berg, defender (2004–2005)—posthumous honour.