Telstar: once a pioneer in professional football, now rainbow shirts are refused

“Telstar is known as a club that jumps on the barricades for everyone,” says Dennis Bliek. Bliek worked at the club for ten years, from 2011 to 2021. He says that Telstar always had the ambition to be a reflection of society, because football is for everyone. “Regardless of background, disability or sexual orientation,” he emphasizes.

Unique in the Netherlands

Telstar was the first club in Dutch football to play in a rainbow shirt in support of inclusivity and diversity. The idea arose in 2017 during a conversation between Telstar and the John Blankenstein Foundation, a foundation committed to diversity and acceptance within sports, especially in the context of homosexuality. Karin Blankenstein, the sister of the referee who died in 2006 and who openly came out about his homosexuality, was sitting at the table and remembers it well. The shirts are even still hanging in her office.

“It was really unique,” ​​she says. Together with Telstar, she proudly presented the shirt on the field and in the locker room. Everyone was enthusiastic. “You noticed that a large part of Telstar simply supported it, including the players, supporters and all employees.”

On October 15, 2021, both Telstar and FC Volendam played in rainbow shirts during the so-called ‘fishing derby’. That was also a first, because never before had both teams adapted their uniforms for this theme during one professional football match.

It is events like these that ensured Telstar grew into the progressive club it is today. “And a large part of this is thanks to Pieter de Waard,” Bliek explains.

Precursor

Under the leadership of former director Pieter de Waard, Telstar grew into a true forerunner of inclusivity within football with numerous actions, including for inclusivity and against racism. In June this year he left the club after 23 years to focus on new things. “He understood better than anyone what the role of a football club should be within a community,” Bliek explains. Blankenstein underlines this. “If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know if Telstar would ever have played in a rainbow shirt,” she adds.

That also makes it extra painful for them that four players refuse to wear the rainbow shirt tomorrow. “It’s a shame that they don’t want it. For whatever reason,” said Blankenstein. “But of course they are also entitled to their opinion.”

According to both Bliek and Blankenstein, refusing the shirt is a hiccup for Telstar, but it does not mean the downfall of Telstar as a progressive team. In any case, Blankenstein will certainly not turn his back on the club. “It remains a nice club,” said Blankenstein. “Finished.”

Yet Bliek still has something to say. “I think it’s a shame that some of the reactions to refusing the shirt have racist undertones,” he explains. He is referring to online speculation that the players harbor hatred towards homosexuals because of their origin. “I don’t know those boys like that and that is the last thing we should be doing. That is not the Telstar mentality.”

Former director Pieter de Waard announced that he did not want to respond to anything regarding Telstar in the near future.