When professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, both and their neighbouring club,
VSV, played in the professional leagues. VSV won the
KNVB Cup in 1938. Due to financial difficulties at both clubs, their professional teams were merged on July 17, 1963. The new club was named Telstar, after the
Telstar communication satellite launched that year. Both Stormvogels and VSV continued separately as amateur clubs. Since 1978, 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 into a renewed partnership, forming
Stormvogels Telstar. The merger was intended 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. 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. After the
2024–25 season, Telstar finished seventh in the Eerste Divisie, earning a place in the promotion play-offs. 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. 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. 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. ==Stadium==