SC Telstar
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| Full name | Sportclub Telstar | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | De Witte Leeuwen (The White Lions) | ||
| Founded | 17 July 1963 | ||
| Ground | 711 Stadion, Velsen | ||
| Capacity | 4.200 | ||
| Chairman | Cees Driebergen[1] | ||
| Head coach | Anthony Correia | ||
| League | Eredivisie | ||
| 2024–25 | Eerste Divisie, 7th of 20 (promoted via play-offs) | ||
| Website | sctelstar.nl | ||
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Sportclub Telstar (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈspɔrtklʏp ˈtɛlstɑr]) is a Dutch professional football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in the 2024–25 season. 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
[edit]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. Both Stormvogels and VSV continued separately as amateur clubs.[2]
Telstar was immediately promoted to the Eredivisie following the 1963–64 season and remained in the top flight for 14 consecutive years. The mid-1970s marked the club's most successful era, with top-flight finishes of sixth in 1973–74, seventh in 1974–75, and ninth in 1975–76. However, performances declined thereafter. The club finished 14th in 1976–77, and in the 1977–78 season, placed 18th and last, resulting in relegation to the Eerste Divisie. The squad during that season included future Bayern Munich and Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.[3][4]
From 1978 onwards, Telstar competed in the Eerste Divisie and did not return to the top flight for nearly five decades. The club reached the promotion play-offs in 1978–79 and again in 1981–82, when it recorded its highest post-relegation finish of fourth place. In the mid-1980s, Telstar entered into a partnership with Ajax and functioned informally as a satellite club. During this period, Michel van Oostrum joined from Ajax, and former Ajax assistant coach Cor van der Hart took over as Telstar manager for the 1987–88 season. In 1991–92, the club made its best-ever run in the KNVB Cup, reaching the semi-finals before losing 3–0 to Roda JC.
Telstar made a strong push for promotion in the 1993–94 season, finishing fifth and narrowly missing out by a single point to RKC Waalwijk. Further top-half finishes came in 1991–92 and 2001–02, with the club ending both seasons in seventh place. In 2000–01 and 2004–05, Telstar again participated in the promotion play-offs but failed to advance.
In 2001, Telstar and Stormvogels entered a renewed partnership, forming Stormvogels Telstar. The intent of the merger was to strengthen the club's youth development system and benefit from training compensation mechanisms. However, the partnership did not yield the expected results. Few players from the youth academy advanced to the professional first team, and the anticipated financial returns from development fees failed to materialise. As a result, the collaboration was discontinued on 1 July 2008, and the club reverted to its original name, Telstar.[2]
In 2008–09, Telstar reached the play-offs once more as winners of the third period title but were eliminated in the first round by MVV. A resurgence came in the 2017–18 season under head coach Mike Snoei, with Telstar finishing sixth—its highest league position since 1993–94—and reaching the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, where they were defeated by Feyenoord.[5]
In 2018–19, the club finished 14th but made another notable KNVB Cup run, reaching the round of 16 before a narrow 4–3 loss to Ajax.[6]
At the conclusion of the 2024–25 season, Telstar finished seventh in the Eerste Divisie, earning a place in the promotion play-offs.[7] In the first round, the club defeated ADO Den Haag 3–0 on aggregate to advance to the semi-finals, where they faced Den Bosch.[8] After a 1–1 draw over two legs, Telstar secured a 2–1 aggregate victory with a 109th-minute goal in extra time from Danny Bakker.[9] In the final, Telstar faced Willem II, which had finished 16th in the Eredivisie after winning the Eerste Divisie the previous season. Following a 2–2 draw in the first leg in Velsen, Telstar won the second leg 3–1 at the Koning Willem II Stadion, securing promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time since 1978.[10][11]
Stadium
[edit]Telstar's home stadium is the 3,625 seater Sportpark Schoonenberg, name 711 Stadion for sponsorship reasons. The stadium 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.[2]
Honours
[edit]Club names
[edit]- 1963–2001: Telstar
- 2001–2008: Stormvogels Telstar
- 2008–present: Telstar
Results
[edit]Below is a table with Telstar's domestic results since 1963.
Players
[edit]First-team squad
[edit]- As of 8 March 2025[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Retired numbers
[edit]22: 
Luciano van den Berg, defender (2004–2005)—posthumous honour.
Former players
[edit]National team players
[edit]The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with SC Telstar:[nb 1]
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- Players in bold actively play for SC Telstar and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with SC Telstar.
National team players by Confederation
[edit]Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former SC Telstar players represented Internationally
| Confederation | Total | (Nation) Association |
|---|---|---|
| AFC | 2 |  Afghanistan (1),  Indonesia (1)
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| CAF | 2 |  Cape Verde (1),  Central African Republic (1)
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| CONCACAF | 2 |  Suriname (2),  Guyana (1)
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| CONMEBOL | 0 | |
| OFC | 0 | |
| UEFA | 7 | Netherlands (6),  Luxembourg (1)
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Players in international tournaments
[edit]The following is a list of Telstar players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. To date, no Telstar players have participated in the UEFA European Championship, Copa América, Africa Cup of Nations, AFC Asian Cup, or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for the club.
| Cup | Players |
|---|---|
 1938 FIFA World Cup |
Niek Michel
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   2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
Terell Ondaan
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Coaching Staff
[edit]| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Anthony Correia[13]
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| Assistant Coaches | Rory Roubos Gertjan Tamerus Robbert Michielsen
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| Goalkeeping Coach | Rick van der Mast
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| Medical Staff | First-Team Doctor: Ron Peters Pim Graafland First-Team Physiotherapists: Rens Teeuwen[14] Paul de Vlugt[15] Bob KooningPhysio Assistant: Clement Uittenbogaard
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| Equipment Manager | Dirk van der Lugt[16]
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| Performance Coaches | Niels Bunink Pieter van Roode
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| Video Analyst | Pieter van der Slikke
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| Team Manager | Jordi van Ewijk
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Historic facts
[edit]All-time leading goalscorers
[edit]| Pos. | Name | Birth | Nationality | Goals |
| 1 | Glynor Plet | 30 January 1987 |
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90 |
| 2 | Sander Oostrom | 14 July 1967 |
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87 |
| 3 | Melvin Holwijn | 2 January 1980 |
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60 |
| 4 | Ronald Hoop | 4 April 1967 |
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52 |
| 5 | Cees van Kooten | 20 August 1948 |
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45 |
| 6 | Rini van Roon | 24 January 1961 |
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43 |
| 7 | Co Stout | 7 September 1948 |
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41 |
| Ron de Roode | 20 March 1965 |
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41 | |
| 9 | Dick Bond | 27 December 1943 |
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38 |
| 10 | Jan Bruin | 30 September 1969 |
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37 |
Most appearances
[edit]| Pos. | Name | Birth | Nationality | Appearances |
| 1 | Frank Korpershoek | 29 October 1984 |
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386 |
| 2 | Fred Bischot | 23 July 1948 |
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372 |
| 3 | Frans van Essen | 19 February 1948 |
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360 |
| 4 | Anthony Correia | 2 May 1982 |
|
356 |
| 5 | Paul van der Meeren | 6 July 1944 |
|
339 |
| 6 | Fred André | 31 May 1941 |
|
321 |
| 7 | Sander Oostrom | 14 July 1967 |
|
320 |
| 8 | Koos Kuut | 2 January 1958 |
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310 |
| 9 | Richard van Heulen | 13 October 1981 |
|
294 |
| 10 | René Panhuis | 26 August 1964 |
|
282 |
Former managers
[edit]| Period | Manager | Nationality |
| 1963–64 | Toon van den Ende |
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| 1964–65 | Jack Mansell | 
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| 1965–66 | Oliver Gaspar | 
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| 1966–69 | Piet de Visser |
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| 1969–74 | Jan Rab |
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| 1974–77 | Joop Castemiller |
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| 1977–78 | Mircea Petescu |
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| 1978–80 | Martin van Vianen |
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| 1980–83 | Joop Brand |
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| 1983–87 | Fred André |
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| 1987–88 | Cor van der Hart |
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| 1988–90 | Cees Glas |
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| 1990–93 | Niels Overweg |
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| 1993–95 | Simon Kistemaker |
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| 1995–97 | Cor Pot |
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| 1997–98 | Harry van den Ham |
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| 1998–99 | Henny Lee |
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| 1999–01 | Simon Kistemaker |
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| 2001–02 | Toon Beijer |
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| 2002–05 | Jan Poortvliet |
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| 2005–08 | Luc Nijholt |
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| 2008–10 | Edward Metgod |
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| 2010–2012 | Jan Poortvliet |
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| 2012–2014 | Marcel Keizer |
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| 2014–2017 | Michel Vonk |
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| 2017–2019 | Mike Snoei |
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| 2019–2022 | Andries Jonker |
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| 2022–2024 | Mike Snoei |
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| 2024 | Ulrich Landvreugd |
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| 2024– | Anthony Correia |
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Notes
[edit]- ^ The following is a consolidated list of clubs' IJVV Stormvogels, VSV and SC Telstar, as a result of the merger of the two prior aforementioned clubs in 1963.
References
[edit]- ^ "Organisatie". SC Telstar (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ a b c "Telstar de Witte Leeuwen – Historie" [Telstar the White Lions – History]. SC Telstar (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ "17.200 dagen nadat Van Gaal uitblonk, is Telstar terug in de Eredivisie". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 2 June 2025. Archived from the original on 2 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "De iconische Telstar-jaren in de Eredivisie: "Mensen zaten in de bomen om ons te zien"". ESPN.nl (in Dutch). 31 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ Bruijn, Thijs de (26 March 2023). "Hoe Telstar opnieuw mag dromen van play-off voetbal onder Mike Snoei". Elfvoetbal. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ "Ajax bekert verder na zege bij Telstar: 3-4". RTL Nieuws. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Brandhorst, Stephan (17 May 2025). "Telstar in de play-offs een succes? Zo verliepen de vorige nacompetities". NH Nieuws (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 18 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ Meijden, Frank van der (17 May 2025). "Fans ADO verpesten euforisch moment van Telstar dat doordendert naar halve finale". NH Nieuws (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 18 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "Telstar klopt Den Bosch na verlenging en bereikt finale play-offs". RTL.nl (in Dutch). 23 May 2025. Archived from the original on 24 May 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "Telstar-captain Mitch Apau viert geboorte zoon en promotie: 'Spakenburg of eredivisie, daar gaan we nog over nadenken'". De Gelderlander (in Dutch). 1 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "Telstar keert na 47 jaar terug in de Eredivisie, Willem II degradeert". Voetbal International (in Dutch). 1 June 2025. Archived from the original on 1 June 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
- ^ "Telstar de Witte Leeuwen – Selectie". SC Telstar. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Anthony Correia nieuwe hoofdtrainer van Telstar". SC Telstar (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Ons team – CareworX". CareworX (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Lambers, Milo (27 November 2020). "Fysiotherapeut Paul de Vlugt werkte bij Manchester United, Juventus en FC Barcelona. In Football Manager, in het echt blijft hij Telstar trouw". Noordhollands Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Brood, Thomas (15 November 2021). "Materiaalman woont om de hoek van Telstar-stadion: "Ideaal na uitwedstrijden"". NH Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Official website (in Dutch)