Telstar

Sportclub Telstar, commonly known simply as Telstar, is a Dutch professional football club based in Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. Nicknamed the Witte Leeuwen ("White Lions") for their all‑white home strip, the team competes in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of the Dutch football league system, having secured promotion via the 2024–25 play‑offs—their first top‑flight appearance since 1978. Founded on 17 July 1963 through the merger of the professional sections of local rivals VSV and Stormvogels, the new club was named after the recently launched communications satellite Telstar 1. Telstar play their home matches at Sportpark Schoonenberg, branded the BUKO Stadion for sponsorship purposes, a compact all‑seater ground that holds 5,338 spectators. Since formation the team have taken to the field to the Tornados' instrumental "Telstar", a tradition that underlines their link with the satellite and remains a distinctive feature of match days.