Hércules CF

Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games at the 29,500-capacity Estadio José Rico Pérez.

History

First years

Hércules CF has been documented since 1914, although not officially registered until 26 September 1922, alongside ''Mercantil de Cartagena'', ''Federación Levantina'', and others. Its founder was Vicente Pastor Alfosea, dubbed "El Chepa", who named the club after the legendary Greek hero Hercules, who was a strong and invincible man, two characteristics that Pastor wanted to see reproduced in his team. In its early days, the club played in various locations, the foothills of la montañosa, the lands of l'Hort del tio Ron, the campo de Benalúa or the facilities of the Alicante Recreation Club. At first, the team played in white and red striped shirts and black pants.

Hércules gradually became more structured, winning a children's tournament in 1918, and forming a senior squad in 1919, and on 22 June of that year, the club played its first official match, against Athletic Club Benaluense at the Copa Excelsior, which Hércules won 2–1; they went on to win that tournament as well. The club continued to grow in prominence and eventually became the subsidiary of the Club Natación Alicante, then the most important football team in Alicante.

Golden age

Following the dissolution of Natación, Hércules not only adopted its current blue and white colours, but also welcomed its entire entourage, including players, youth academy, and directors, such as Renato Bardín, as well as Natación's fanbase, then the biggest in Alicante, thus soon established itself as the best team in Alicante and achieving its first great triumph on 1 June 1930, when it reached the final of the Spanish Amateur Championship, which ended in a 3–2 loss to Club Gijón. Renato Bardín went on to become the club's treasurer, and when he was faced with the need for a larger football pitch, he convinced his father, Théophile Bardín, to build said stadium on some land he owned located in the Benalúa ravine, next to the Army barrack (currently the Alipark neighborhood). Thus, on 18 September 1932, Estadio Bardín was inaugurated, with the ribbon of the opening ceremony being cut by the mayor of Alicante, and with the stadium's opening match being a friendly against Real Madrid.

In the mid-1930s, the club won back-to-back Tercera División titles, achieving promotion to the Segunda División in 1934, which they won at the first time of asking (1934–35), thus not only securing a third league title in just 4 years, but also promotion to the Spanish top tier for the first time in its history. Hércules then finished their debut season in La Liga in sixth place; the highlight of the season was a 1–0 home victory over the eventual champions Athletic Bilbao.

Hércules would play sporadically in the top-flight for the next 40 years, playing mainly in the second division but going as low as the third. From 1961 to 1969, neighbours Alicante acted as its feeder club.

Recent history

After a ten-year spell in the top flight, encompassing 12 seasons in the 1970s and '80s, the club only returned again in the 1996–97 campaign. Though eventually relegated, it managed two remarkable comeback wins over Barcelona, which ultimately handed the Liga title to Real Madrid.

In 2004–05, after five years in the third level, Hércules finished second, being subsequently promoted to the "silver category". After posting three consecutive solid seasons, the club narrowly missed out on a return to the top division in 2009, finishing fourth, three points behind last-promotee Tenerife.

The 2009–10 campaign saw Hércules promoted back into the top flight after 14 years in dramatic fashion: losing 0–1 at half-time at Rayo Vallecano, the team fought back to win 2–1 in the penultimate game of the season and leap frogged Real Betis into third place. In the last round, a 2–0 away win against relegation-threatened Real Unión guaranteed promotion, with the 4–0 win of Betis over Levante eventually counting for nothing (all three teams – Levante, Hércules and Betis – ended equal on points).

Early into the 2010–11 season, one year, three months and 19 days after Barcelona's last home defeat in the league, Hércules recorded a shock 2–0 win at the Camp Nou thanks to a brace from Nelson Valdez – Barcelona had won their last 11 home matches, scored at least three times in each of their last six league fixtures and were protecting a 17-game unbeaten streak. This was the Alicante outfit's third successive win over the Barcelona, having won both meetings in their previous top flight campaign 14 years before.

In the 2013–14 campaign, they were relegated to the Segunda División B after finishing in last place in the Segunda División.

In the 2016–17 Copa del Rey, the team drew 1–1 with Barcelona. In the second match at the Camp Nou (Barcelona's home), Hércules was defeated by the Catalonian side 7–0.

At the end of the 2016–17 Segunda División B season, Carlos Luque, previously coach of Hércules CF B, replaced Luis Tevenet, who had been dismissed shortly before the end of the league campaign. Following the season, the club’s accounts were frozen, preventing any squad movements except player releases. Basque businessman Juan Carlos Ramírez, who had previously been financing the team, succeeded Carlos Parodi as president. His primary objective was to lead negotiations with the tax authorities to ensure the club’s survival, which was threatened by debts that were difficult to settle due to the division in which the team was competing. After weeks of negotiations without a response from the public agency, Ramírez — who had pledged a €1.5 million investment to build a strong team capable of securing promotion — warned that he would leave the club if he did not receive a reply from the tax office, which would make him the shortest-serving president in the club's history.

After persistent efforts, Ramírez succeeded in reaching an agreement with the tax authorities, who accepted the conditions he imposed to settle the club’s debt. Attention then turned to building the squad, a task entrusted to former Hércules player Javier Portillo, who, following his retirement from professional football, had become increasingly involved in the club’s management and was appointed sporting director.

Hércules CF signed Argentine coach Gustavo Siviero to lead the team in the 2017–18 Segunda División B season. However, due to poor results, Siviero was dismissed after matchday nine and replaced by Claudio Barragán, with the aim of securing promotion to the Segunda División. On matchday 25, Barragán was also dismissed and succeeded by Josip Višnjić, who began his tenure with a 3–0 away victory over Deportivo Aragón. Despite this positive start, Hércules failed to reach the promotion play-off positions and ultimately finished the season in 10th place, missing out on qualification for the Copa del Rey.

In the 2018–19 season, under head coach Lluís Planagumà, Hércules finished second in the league table. During the promotion play-offs, the team eliminated Barakaldo and Logroñés but lost in the final to Ponferradina, suffering a 1–3 defeat at home at the José Rico Pérez Stadium and a 1–0 loss in the return leg in Ponferrada.

In the summer of 2020, Carmelo del Pozo was officially appointed as sporting director, with David Cubillo taking over as head coach with the objective of achieving promotion to the Segunda División. Despite finishing in the relegation zone to the Tercera División that season, Hércules avoided relegation due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to restructure the league system and suspend relegations in the non-professional tiers.

The 2020–21 season, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, was the final season under the name Segunda División B before being replaced by the new RFEF league structure. This restructuring introduced the Primera División RFEF as the third tier of Spanish football. As relegation had been suspended the previous season, the increased number of participating teams led to the creation of five initial groups, each split into two subgroups of 10 teams. Hércules finished 4th in their first-phase group, thus competing in the second phase for qualification to the Primera RFEF (Group II-D). However, they finished third in that stage, resulting in the club competing in the fourth tier, Segunda RFEF, for the 2021–22 season — a historic relegation for the club, which also faced financial difficulties.

The 2021–2022 Segunda RFEF season ended with Hércules finishing fifth in Group V, qualifying for the promotion play-offs to Primera RFEF. The play-offs were held entirely in Alicante province due to the high number of teams from the area (Eldense, La Nucía, and Hércules), with Estadio José Rico Pérez among the venues. Hércules played their first play-off match at their home stadium (as the away team) against Unión Adarve, who had finished second in Group I. The match ended 1–1 after extra time, and Unión Adarve advanced due to their higher regular season ranking. As a result, Hércules remained in Spain's fourth tier during their centenary year.

After finishing 7th in Segunda RFEF in 2022–23, Hércules began the 2023–24 season strongly under coach Rubén Torrecilla, winning their first three games and leading the table at mid-season. A six-game winless run dropped them to fifth, but the team recovered with consecutive wins and, on 5 May 2024, secured promotion to Primera RFEF by defeating Lleida 2–1, finishing first in Group 3 with 65 points.

Season to season

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*20 seasons in La Liga
*43 seasons in Segunda División
*2 season in Primera Federación
*18 seasons in Segunda División B
*3 seasons in Segunda Federación/Segunda División RFEF
*7 seasons in Tercera División

Players

Current squad

Out of loan

Former coaches

Fans

Rivalries

The rival team is Elche Club de Fútbol, representing the two main cities of the Alicante province which are only 21 kilometres apart. The two contest the ' or the ''Costa Blanca Derby''.

Hércules' other main rival is Valencia. This match is the regional derby par excellence. The matches between the two teams are always very tense and rivalrous, with occasional clashes between fans.

For years, the main rival has been Alicante CF, the leading club in the Alicante province, with which Hercules has shared the stadium and division for many years, leading to violent clashes between fans and players. Since their bankruptcy in 2012, their traditions are continued by CFI Alicante.

The other Valencian rivalry is with the Castellón, the other provincial capital of the Valencian Community.

Another rival team of Hercules is the Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, due to the proximity of both cities.

Friendships

With fans of Iraklis, since 2003, fans of both teams formed a friendship through the Internet, because "Iraklis" is a Greek name for "Hercules", the Roman name for Heracles, the Greek god of strength. There is even a Hércules supporters club that bears the name Iraklis, in honor of their friendship.El Hércules proyecta su imagen en otros tres equipos europeos
. Noticia de 2005 de La Verdad.

They also have a newly formed partnership with St Johnstone F.C. of Scotland.

See also

* Hércules CF B
* Ciudad de Alicante Trophy

References

External links

*
Futbolme team profile

''Macho Hércules''
– fansite
Club & Stadium History at Estadios de España
.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hercules

Football clubs in the Valencian Community
Association football clubs established in 1922
1922 establishments in Spain
Sport in Alicante
Segunda División clubs
La Liga clubs
Primera Federación clubs