Hercules stands as a cornerstone club in Alicante, celebrating a century since its founding this Thursday as it marks twenty years in the Premier League era. The milestone sits alongside a storied social and sporting history that has shaped city life, the province, and national football, even as the club faces a new phase of distance from the top flight.
Today the team competes in the Segunda RFEF, the fourth tier of Spanish football, yet a fifth of its century-long existence has been spent among legendary players who left a lasting imprint on Spanish and world football.
Herculaneum legends
From world champions like Mario Kempes and David Trezeguet to Olympic gold medalists such as Francisco Veza, nicknamed Paqui, and many others including Ramón Marsal, Manolo Macía, Ramón Navarro, Luis Aragonés, Sergio Rodríguez, José Antonio Barrios, José Ignacio Churruca, Alfredo Megido, Pascual Luna Parra, Juan Antonio Carcelén Baena, Miodrag Kustodic, Abel Aguilar, Nelson Valdez, and the famed Cacho Saccardi, the club has welcomed a remarkable lineage. The goalkeepers Miguel Ángel Santoro and Jan Tomaszewsky, along with José Pérez, the first Spanish national to wear the Hercules jersey, are numbered among the legendary names who wore the crest. These figures helped shape a rich heritage that still resonates today.
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Tutorials
Coaches who left a mark include Arsenio Iglesias, Gaspar Rubio, Marcel Domingo, Antonio Ramallets, Alberto Ormaetxea, José Bordalás, César Rodríguez, Benito Joanet, Koldo Aguirre, Manolo Jiménez, Carlos Jurado, Antonio Torres, David Vidal, Carlo Mandiá, and Josèta Rojo Hernández, the trainer with the most matches in the club’s history.
Originally donning a red and white kit, Hercules officially celebrates its centennial this Thursday, tied to the moment Alicante’s civil governor approved the founding charter, as historians record. The club had already pressed into local competition years earlier.
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Centennial date: from El Chepa to Ortiz
The club, founded by Vicente Pastor Alfosea known as El Chepa, was named to honor and outdo rivals, a nod from the creator. Its colors eventually settled on the blue and white that came from another local team, Swimming.
The mid-1930s brought Hercules its first golden era, yet the Civil War disrupted the club severely, with many players and coaches lost. In 1930, the team finished second in amateur Spain after a final defeat to Sporting de Gijón in Montjuic.
Where to buy tickets and prices for the centennial game of Hércules CF
This centennial atmosphere is reflected in the timetable and ticketing for the celebratory match, as the club looks to invite fans to share in the milestone—without losing sight of its future plans.
Team transitions saw the squad move from the First Division to the Second, playing at Bardín and La Viña in earlier decades, with a few notable returns to Chapter One in successive eras.
Hercules’ peak years came under the leadership of José Rico Pérez in the early 1970s. The club solidified its Primera status and in 1982 opened Rico Pérez stadium, a landmark venue that hosted the World Cup. The team competed there for eight straight seasons and finished fifth in 1974-75, their best finish, though they narrowly missed a UEFA place on goal difference.
“El Rico Pérez must have a party and take away the pain”
The club faced ups and downs in the 1980s and entered a lean period that dropped them into Segunda B. The 1990s brought a revival under Aniceto Benito, culminating in a dominant season that set records and earned promotion to the Segunda Division in 95-96, followed by a jump to the Primera Division, the brightest chapter in its history.
The club’s ownership turmoil translated into instability on the field, with a temporary dip and a return to Segunda B. The current major shareholder, a prominent Alicante businessman, carried the club for twenty-three years, achieving a single Primera promotion in 2010-11. It is noted that what seemed to resolve a deep crisis eventually led to a darker period for Hercules.
Map of white and blue emotions
Hercules’ final ascent to the elite happened in the 2010-11 season, a high point highlighted by memorable performances against top sides and the presence of stars such as Trezeguet, Rufete, and Valdez. The journey since then has been turbulent, marked by a string of challenges that saw the club drop to Segunda RFEF while facing a long stretch away from the Premier League—an echo of broader governance and financial concerns that have tested the fanbase and the city alike.
Public scrutiny has shadowed the club through various disputes and bankruptcy proceedings, yet supporters continue to rally around a heritage that has helped place Alicante on the world football map.
35 elected people who said yes to the Centennial party and did not join the parties
Alicante’s club has endured sensitive moments—threats of disappearance in the late 1960s and debts at the century’s end—but those crises never erased its essential identity. Hercules remains a central football asset in the Valencian Community, even as its role shifts within the provincial hierarchy.
Del Bosque, Kustodic and Carcelén, the protagonists of the main act of the Centenary of Hercules
The club’s centennial celebrations, though tempered by recent results, emphasize the historical and emotional legacy that has anchored Alicante in world football. The moment, despite a tough weekend, serves as a reminder of a club that helped put the city on the map and inspired generations to dream big.