Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Almelo
Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek.
Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle o ...
, 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
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
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
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, they reached the
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
final for the first time in the club's history, losing to
PSV in the final. The club's main rival is
Twente.
History
The club was founded on 3 May 1903 as
Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
, after the demigod son of
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
Zeus is the child ...
. 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
Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...
and then
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
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.
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. 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. On 19 May 2023, Heracles won their third Eerste Divisie title after defeating
Jong Ajax in the last round of play.
Stadium
Heracles Almelo currently play at the
Asito Stadion in
Almelo
Almelo () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek.
Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle o ...
. 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
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...
. After renovation of the stadium at the beginning of 2015–16 season, it currently holds 13,500 spectators.
Honours
National
*
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
**Champions:
1926–27,
1940–41
*
Eerste Divisie
**Winners:
1984–85,
2004–05,
[Eerste Divisie Champions](_blank)
RSSSF.com, Retrieved 7 June 2013 2022–23
*
KNVB Cup
The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...
**Runners-up:
2011–12
Domestic results

Below is a table with Heracles Almelo's domestic results since the introduction of the
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
in 1956.
European record
;Notes
* 3Q: Third qualifying round
Current squad
Out on loan
Former players
National team players
''The following players were called up to represent their
national teams in
international football and received
caps during their tenure with Heracles Almelo:
*;Algeria
**
Karim Bridji (2006–2009)
*;Australia
**
Jason Davidson (2011–2014)
**
Ajdin Hrustić (2024)
*;Burundi
**
Mohamed Amissi (2020–2022)
*;Cameroon
**
Willie Overtoom (2008–2013)
*;Canada
**
Rob Friend (2007)
*;Curaçao
**
Brandley Kuwas (2016–2019)
*;Estonia
**
Ragnar Klavan (2005–2009)
*;Finland
**
Mika Nurmela (2005–2006)
*;Ghana
**
Kwame Quansah (2004–2014)
*;Indonesia
**
Joey Pelupessy (2014-2018)
*;Kazakhstan
**
Alexander Merkel (2018–2020)
*;Morocco
**
Oussama Tannane (2013–2016)
*;Netherlands
**
Bertus Freese (1918–1936)
**
Hennie van Nee (1960–1962; 1963–1965)
**
Frits Schipper (1923–1939)
**
Frans van der Veen (1936–1941; 1948–1954)
*;Nigeria
**
Cyriel Dessers (2019–2020)
*;United States
**
Luca de la Torre (2020–2022)
*;Suriname
**
Navajo Bakboord (2019–2024)
**
Kelvin Leerdam (2024–present)
*;Syria
**
Mohammed Osman (2018–2020)
*;Tanzania
**
Sunday Manara (1977–1978)
* ''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
Member associations are listed in order of most to least amount of current and former Heracles Almelo players represented Internationally
Players in international tournaments
The following is a list of Heracles Almelo players who have competed in international tournaments, including the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
,
AFC Asian Cup
The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...
and the
CONCACAF Gold Cup. To this date no Heracles players have participated in the
UEFA European Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...
,
Africa Cup of Nations,
Copa América. or the
OFC Nations Cup
The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...
while playing for Heracles Almelo.
Coaching staff
Former coaches
*
Horace Colclough (1920–21)
*
Ted Magner (1921–23)
*
Horace Colclough (1923–32)
*
Robert Roxburgh (1932–35)
*
Leslie Lievesley (1 March 1946 – 30 June 1947)
*
David Davison (July 1948 – February 1949)
*
Gilbert Richmond (1949–53)
*
Duggie Lochhead (1953–56)
*
Jan Bilj (1956–60)
*
Michael Keeping (Sept. 1960 – 30 January 1961)
*
Frits van der Elst /
Freek Jaarsma (1961 interim)
*
Jaap van der Leck (March 1961–63)
*
Keith Spurgeon (1 July 1963 – 30 June 1964)
*
Jan de Bouter (1964–66)
*
Les Talbot (1 July 1966 – 30 June 1967)
*
Toon Valks (1967–69)
*
Evert Teunissen (1 July 1969 – 30 June 1970)
*
Rinus Gosens (1 July 1970 – 30 June 1972)
*
Ron Dellow (1 July 1972 – 30 June 1975)
*
Jan Verhaert (1975–76)
*
Hennie Hollink (1 July 1976 – 30 June 1979)
*
Theo Laseroms (1979–81)
*
Jan Morsing (1 July 1981 – 3 November 1982)
*
Arie Stehouwer (1982–83)
*
Gerard Somer (1983–87)
*
Jan Morsing (1988)
*
Henk van Brussel (1989–90)
*
Henk ten Cate (21 November 1990 – 30 June 1992)
*
Azing Griever (1 February 1993 – 1 March 1995)
*
Jan van Staa (1 July 1995 – 30 June 1996)
*
Gerard Marsman (1 July 1996 – 30 June 1998)
*
Theo Vonk (8 March 1998 – 30 June 1999)
*
Fritz Korbach (1 July 1999 – 30 June 2001)
*
Gertjan Verbeek (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2004)
*
Peter Bosz (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2006)
*
Ruud Brood (1 July 2006 – 24 December 2007)
*
Gert Heerkes (2 January 2008 – 30 June 2009)
*
Gertjan Verbeek (1 July 2009 – 30 June 2010)
*
Peter Bosz (1 July 2010 – 30 June 2013)
*
Jan de Jonge (1 July 2013 – 31 August 2014)
*
John Stegeman (1 September 2014 – 30 June 2018)
*
Frank Wormuth (1 July 2018 – 16 May 2022)
*
John Lammers (25 June 2022 – 12 December 2023)
*
Erwin van de Looi (21 December 2023 – Present)
References
External links
Fansite– HAFC.nl
Tactical formationsat football-lineups.com
{{Eredivisie
Association football clubs established in 1903
1903 establishments in the Netherlands
Football clubs in the Netherlands
Football clubs in Overijssel
Sport in Almelo