Telstar win promotion to Eredivisie after 47-year absence

Telstar will play Eredivisie football for the first time since 1978 next season after beating Willem II in the two-legged play-off final.

The club from Velsen-Zuid, whose stadium has a capacity of 3,625, won 3-1 in Tilburg after the first leg on Thursday ended 2-2.

Mees Kaandorp struck after just sixth minutes before Youssef El Kachati scored his ninth goal in 10 matches to give Telstar a two-goal cushion within a quarter of an hour.

Willem II quickly hit back when defender Rob Nizet deflected a free-kick into the net, but Kaandorp snuffed out hopes of a comeback when he bagged his second with a header early in the second half.

“We’ve written history,” an ecstatic El Kachati said after the match. “We walked through fire for each other. I’ll never forget being a part of this.”

The 25-year-old is out of contract now the season is over, but he is unlikely to be short of suitors after playing a pivotal role in the club’s promotion.

Telstar qualified for the play-offs by finishing seventh in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, their best performance in 47 years, before beating ADO Den Haag and Den Bosch to line up a showdown with Willem II.

The club was founded in 1963 when two other professional clubs, VSV and IJVV Stormvogels, merged. It was named after a communications satellite that had been launched the year before by AT&T.

Coach Anthony Correia, who played as a defender for Telstar for 15 years, scoring one goal in 354 appearances, said taking the club to the top flight was a Boy’s Own story.

“If you look at what we went through this season, I think we’ve done very well for ourselves,” he told ESPN. “We’re really going to enjoy this. It’s sad for Willem II, but we’ve earned our place in the Eredivisie.”

Willem II, who finished 16th in the top flight, had been hoping to become the first club to avoid relegation through the play-offs since the current system was introduced in 2020.

“This has hit us very hard,” Willem II captain Erik Schouten said after his team-mates were booed off the pitch by dejected home fans who last celebrated a league victory in December. “I can’t take it in. It really hurts and it’s left us feeling very low.”