JS Hercules
Full nameJalkapalloseura Hercules ry.
Nickname(s)Herkku
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
GroundCastrén
ChairmanMikko Perälä
ManagerPeter Ebbe Tønder
WebsiteClub website

JS Hercules is an association football club based in Oulu, Finland. Founded in 1998, the team started at the lowest level of the Finnish league system and was playing in the Third Division until promoted to Finnish Second Division, Kakkonen, for the first time for season 2016.[1]

History

When Hercules played the first matches in 1998, some of the players had never played in a football club previously. Some had a little background in their local youth teams and nothing else. The team's core was a group of students mostly from the Faculty of Technology at the University of Oulu. This first generation is almost gone, but a couple are still playing for the reserve team, Herkku-Papat, or manage the team business in the background. Younger ranks are now taking care of the first team efforts on the field.[2]

Current season

On season 2018 Hercules had three teams in different leagues. The first team plays in Kakkonen, group C. The reserve team, JS Hercules/2, plays in the Third Division in northern Finland; the third team, Herkku-Papat, in the Fifth Division in the Oulu area.[3]

Current squad 2018

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Finland FIN Ville Seppä
2 DF Finland FIN Joni Leskelä
5 DF Finland FIN Santeri Ukkola
7 MF Finland FIN Aleksi Nousiainen
9 FW Nigeria NGA Kalim Amokachi
10 FW Nigeria NGA Paul Obi
11 FW Nigeria NGA Nazim Amokachi
12 DF Finland FIN Markku Huoponen (C)
19 MF Finland FIN Miika Vihavainen
21 MF Finland FIN Miika Lammela
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF Finland FIN Valtteri Kovalainen
23 FW Nigeria NGA Junior Obagbemiro
24 MF Nigeria NGA Jerome Ogbuefi
25 MF Egypt EGY Karam Hadhoud
27 MF North Macedonia MKD Calvin N'Sombo
37 FW Finland FIN Sami Karjalainen
41 GK Finland FIN Aleksanteri Patronen
45 GK Finland FIN Darius Kangnissoukpe
80 MF Finland FIN Samu Himanka

Outside the pitch

JS Hercules has combined football and business in creating a yearly seminar, FootCoop, which brings together teams and businesses from Northern Fennoscandia with exceptional speakers. The 2012 seminar featured Brian Deane, Tom Saintfiet, Martti Kuusela, Tom Markham, Jarmo Kekäläinen, Aki Riihilahti and Miguel Huhta, and others. At the same time they organized "Sister City Football Tournament" which included teams from Oulu's sister cities and other neighboring places like Alta IF, AC Oulu, RoPS and Bodens BK.[4] In 2017, the club entered into a partnership with Indian I-League club Chennai City.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "JS Hercules history". JS Hercules. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  2. ^ "JS Hercules nousee Kakkoseen!". JS Hercules. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. ^ "ResultCode – sarjat/kesä 2012". Palloliitto. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  4. ^ "FootCoop 2012 was a success!". Topspot. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  5. ^ Kundu, Abhishek (28 June 2019). "10 Partnerships between Indian and European football clubs which broke down". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  6. ^ "JS HERCULES OPENS A BRANCH OFFICE IN INDIA AND TIES UP FOR LONG-TERM COOPERATION WITH I-LEAGUE CLUB CHENNAI CITY FC". jshercules.com. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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