Synopsis

Telstar Football Club from IJmuiden is an absolute underdog in Dutch professional football. The club owes its social right to exist to an exceptional group of people, who make the difference with inventiveness, humour, dreams and responsibility. Undefeated in Europe since 1963! Chairman Pieter de Waard (62), like his father, wants to save the club from ruin and is constantly coming up with fun activities to get people involved in the club. On the other hand, for coach Andries Jonker (59) – with clubs like Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Arsenal behind his name – professionalisation and sporting success is an absolute goal. The club must develop, because for the players Telstar is not a goal in itself but a chance to go higher, better, more. Defender Anass Najah (24) dreams of a better club, while right back Ilias Bronkhorst (24), who works in a sushi restaurant and looks after his single 85-year-old father, has managed to get into the starting line-up. Defender Redouan El Yaakoubi (26) trains just as hard for Telstar as he does for his Dare to Dream Foundation, which supports children in the Overvecht district of Utrecht in their personal development.

The higher Telstar plays, the greater the chance that the players can make a step, but the greater the challenge to keep their heads above water.

Corona puts everything on edge. What happens to a club when there are no people? What does that do to the community spirit? And what about its ambitions? Will the club, which has miraculously managed to survive since its inception in 1963, manage to survive again? When national coach Louis van Gaal makes a one-off appearance as Telstar’s trainer and the public is allowed back into the stadium, new times seem to have dawned for the football club.