Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to the Eredivisie for the first time in 28 years. The club remained in the top division for 17 seasons before suffering relegation at the end of the 2021–22 season. In 2012, they reached the KNVB Cup final for the first time in the club's history, losing to PSV in the final. The club's main rival is Twente.

Heracles Almelo
Full nameHeracles Almelo
Nickname(s)Heraclieden, HAFC, Poupers, SCH
Founded3 May 1903; 121 years ago (1903-05-03)
GroundAsito Stadion
Capacity12,080
ChairmanJacob Roche
Head coachErwin van de Looi
LeagueEredivisie
2023–24Eredivisie, 14th of 18
WebsiteClub website
Current season

History

edit

The club was founded on 3 May 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on 1 July 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998.

Heracles finished sixth in the Eredivisie during the 2015–16 season, qualifying for the end of season European play-offs. The club first defeated Groningen and then Utrecht and thus qualified for the first time in club history for European football, starting in the third qualifying round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.[1]

A run of three consecutive losses saw Heracles end the 2021–22 season in sixteenth place, condemning them to the promotion/relegation play-offs. The club were relegated to the Eerste Divisie after losing 6–1 to Excelsior on aggregate in the semifinals.[2] Less than a year later, the Heraclieden sealed an immediate return to the top flight, with a 3–0 home win over Jong PSV securing them a top two finish in the 2022–23 Eerste Divisie and only a week after PEC Zwolle had done so.[3][4] On 19 May 2023, Heracles won their third Eerste Divisie title after defeating Jong Ajax in the last round of play.[5][6]

Stadium

edit

Heracles Almelo currently play at the Asito Stadion in Almelo. The Asito Stadion was built in 1999 with a capacity 6,900, this was expanded in 2005 to hold 8,500. The pitch at the Asito Stadion is artificial turf. After renovation of the stadium at the beginning of 2015–16 season, it currently holds 13,500 spectators.

Honours

edit

National

edit

Domestic results

edit
 
Historical chart of league performance

Below is a table with Heracles Almelo's domestic results since the introduction of the Eredivisie in 1956.

European record

edit
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2016–17 UEFA Europa League   Arouca 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
Notes
  • 3Q: Third qualifying round

Current squad

edit
As of 2 September 2024[8]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF   NED Mimeirhel Benita (on loan from Feyenoord)
3 DF   GER Jannes Wieckhoff
4 DF   NED Damon Mirani
5 MF   NED Jordy Bruijn
6 DF   SRB Sava-Arangel Čestić
7 FW   BEL Bryan Limbombe
8 FW   GER Mario Engels
9 FW   NED Jizz Hornkamp
10 FW   SUR Shiloh 't Zand (on loan from Feyenoord)
11 FW   DEN Nikolai Laursen
12 DF   NED Ruben Roosken
13 MF   CZE Jan Žambůrek
14 MF   BEL Brian De Keersmaecker
16 GK   NED Fabian de Keijzer
17 MF   NED Thomas Bruns
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW   CAN Luka Kulenović
21 DF   NED Justin Hoogma (captain)
22 DF   ITA Lorenzo Milani
23 FW   FIN Juho Talvitie (on loan from Lommel)
24 DF   SVK Ivan Mesík
26 MF   NED Daniël van Kaam
27 DF   NED Jop Tijink
28 FW   CUW Giandro Sambo
29 FW   ISR Suf Podgoreanu (on loan from Maccabi Haifa)
30 GK   BEL Robin Mantel
32 MF   NED Sem Scheperman
35 DF   NED Stijn Bultman
36 GK   NED Timo Jansink
FW   NED Diego van Oorschot

Out on loan

edit

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   ITA Antonio Satriano (at Casertana until 30 June 2025)

Former players

edit

National team players

edit

The following players were called up to represent their national teams in international football and received caps during their tenure with Heracles Almelo:

  • Players in bold actively play for Heracles Almelo and for their respective national teams. Years in brackets indicate careerspan with Heracles.

National team players by Confederation

edit

Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former Heracles Almelo players represented Internationally

Total national team players by confederation
Confederation Total (Nation) Association
AFC 3   Australia (2),   Syria (1)
CAF 7   Algeria (1),   Burundi (1),   Cameroon (1),   Ghana (1),   Morocco (1),   Nigeria (1),   Tanzania (1)
CONCACAF 5   Suriname (2),   Canada (1),   Curaçao (1),   United States (1)
CONMEBOL 0  
OFC 0  
UEFA 7   Netherlands (4),   Estonia (1),   Finland (1),   Kazakhstan (1)

Players in international tournaments

edit

The following is a list of Heracles Almelo players who have competed in international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. To this date no Heracles players have participated in the UEFA European Championship, Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América. or the OFC Nations Cup while playing for Heracles Almelo.

Cup Players
  1938 FIFA World Cup   Frans van der Veen
  2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup   Rob Friend
  2014 FIFA World Cup   Jason Davidson
  2019 AFC Asian Cup   Mohammed Osman

Coaching staff

edit
As of 20 February 2024
Position Staff
Technical director   Nico-Jan Hoogma
Team Manager   Edwin van Lenthe
Manager   Tom Uitzetter
Head coach   Erwin van de Looi
Assistant coach   René Kolmschot
  Ivo Rossen
First-team coach   Hendrie Krüzen
First-Team Goalkeeper Coach   Brian van Loo
Video analyst   Leen den Boer
Chief scout   Alfred Nijhuis
Scout   Robin Hoogma
Physiotherapist   Emiel Bolscher
  Léon van Beelen
  Ashwien Baidnath
Kit Manager   Martin Dalhoeven

Former coaches

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Sport – Het laatste nieuws uit Nederland leest u op Telegraaf.nl". Telegraaf. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Heracles Almelo degradeert na 17 jaar uit Eredivisie". Telegraaf. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Heracles Almelo promoted, and will return to the Eredivisie | NL Times". nltimes.nl. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Feest in Almelo: uitblinker Azzaoui schiet Heracles terug naar eredivisie". NOS. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Winnend Heracles ziet PEC niet uithalen en is kampioen van eerste divisie". nos.nl (in Dutch). 19 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Heracles Almelo and PEC Zwolle celebrate Eredivisie promotion | NL Times". nltimes.nl. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  7. ^ Eerste Divisie Champions, RSSSF.com, Retrieved 7 June 2013
  8. ^ "Team". Heracles Almelo (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  9. ^ "De Heracles trainer mr. Magner" (in Dutch). Overijsselsch dagblad. 9 October 1923. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Trainer-Verzorger E. Magner" (in Dutch). Sportkroniek. 31 December 1923. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Delpher Kranten – Het volk : dagblad voor de arbeiderspartij 16-10-1933". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Delpher Kranten – De Heerenveensche koerier : onafhankelijk dagblad voor Midden-Zuid-Oost-Friesland en Noord-Overijssel 10-05-1950". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
  13. ^ "Delpher Kranten – Nieuwsblad van het Noorden 13-10-1979". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Delpher Kranten – De waarheid 04-11-1982". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Delpher Kranten – De Telegraaf 04-12-1987". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Delpher Kranten – Leeuwarder courant : hoofdblad van Friesland 08-01-1988". kb.nl. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013.
  17. ^ "SC HERACLES '74". 18 August 1988. Retrieved 17 March 2018 – via KBDK.
edit