Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, in the autonomous community of

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home games at the 29,500-capacity

Estadio José Rico Pérez Estadio José Rico Pérez is a multi-purpose stadium in Alicante, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches, being home to Hércules CF. It also hosted World Cup matches when Spain organized the event in 1982. With a capacity of 2 ...

History

Hercules C.F. 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". 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. Primera Plantilla

Hercules joined a youth league, becoming champion in 1918. The first official match was in 1919 against

Athletic Club Benaluense Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...

, Hercules winning 2–1. At first the team played in white and red striped shirts and black pants. After first appearing in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

in the 1935–36 season, Hércules would play sporadically in the category for the next 40 years, playing mainly in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

but going as low as

the third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

. From 1961 to 1969, neighbours

acted as its

feeder club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

. 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 Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, which ultimately handed the Liga title to Real Madrid. In 2004–05, after five years in the

third level Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

, 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 Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

. The 2009–10 campaign saw Hércules promoted back into the top flight after 14 years in dramatic fashion: losing 0–1 at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

, the team fought back to win 2–1 in the penultimate game of the season and leap frogged

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

into third place. In the last round, a 2–0 away win against relegation-threatened

Real Unión Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

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 2016–17 Copa del Rey was the 115th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). Barcelona were the two-time defending champions, and successfully defended their title following a 3–1 win over A ...

, 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.

Season to season

---- *20 seasons in

*43 seasons in Segunda División *18 seasons in Segunda División B *1 season in Segunda División RFEF *7 seasons in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

Players

Current squad

Alineación titular Hércules jornada1 temp

Former coaches

Relationships with other teams

* Iraklis – Since 2003, fans of both teams formed a friendship through the Internet, because "Iraklis" is a Greek name for "

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

", the Roman name for

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

, the

Greek god The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

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 FC of Scotland.

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