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Heracles was founded in 1903 and is one of the oldest football clubs in
Holland with a long and rich tradition. Peaks of success came in 1927 and 1941
when the club won the League and in 1974/5 when they beat Ajax 4 - 2 (at the
time World Champions) in the Dutch FA Cup ( an achievement which is still fondly
remembered by older fans throughout the land) managing to repeat this success in
1996. Between the introduction of Professional Football in 1954 and 1958
they played a marginal role in Division 2B. In 1958 after beating Zwolsche Boys
7 - 0 they became Division 2B Champions and gained their promotion to Division
One. The longest and most consistently successful period for the club was in the
1960's. Under the leadership of the legendary Joop Schuman (all time top scorer
with 47 goals to his name in the 1961/62 season) and the South African player
Steve Mokone they were able to show what they were capable of and in 1961/2 were
top of Division 1, gaining promotion to the Premier Division. In those days
their old home ground in the Bornsestraat in the town of Almelo was often filled
to its 14,000 capacity. The stadium has become a piece of history itself, the
main stand still being the original wooden 'monument' that (along with another
'football monument' " The Castle" at Sparta's homeground) has stood
the test of years of supporters' enthousiasm and is practically unique in
Holland. In 1962/63 the club won 10 games in a row - a club record!
Feyenoord put an end to their run of success when they won 5 - 1 in Almelo.
The end of the dream came in the season 1965/66 when the club were demoted to
the First Division. This was the beginning of a slide down to the bottom of the
division where they stayed until finally starting the long climb back, ending up
in 12th place in 1983/84. Next year they completely surprised everyone, even
their fans, by topping the First Division. 2,000 fans accompanied the team to
their championship-winning match against Roosendaal RBC. Unfortunately, due to a
lack of resources their stay in the Premier Division was a short one and in
1985/86 they went down again to the First Division - still fans remember proudly
that their team beat local rivals FC Twente away that year in the Diekman
Stadium. The club then went into major collapse, most of the regular first team
players either moved to other clubs or left football altogether. Talents such as
Hendry Kruzen went to FC Den Bosch before moving on to PSV and appearances for
Holland. Simultaneously, the depth of the club's financial problems also became
clear, despite which they have managed to survive even when many others in the
1980's didn't - such as FC Amsterdam, FC Vlaardingen, FC Wageningen and FC
Amersfoort.
A combination of good buying practices and a strong youth scheme have made
Heracles a significant presence again in the First Division in the 1990's. A man
who, popularily, made a major contribution to this revival is Folkert Velten - a
striker to be compared with the 60's hero Joop Schuman. In his first season
(1988/89) he scored 24 goals (compared with the mere 8 scored by his predecessor
Galgenberg the previous year). The club's finances are in good shape nowadays
due to well organised sponsorship and cooperation with the business community
(more than 300 businesses are involved). In 1998 the club changed its name to
Heracles Almelo as a gesture to the local Town Council (for their
financial support) and at the same time to publicise their new stadium which
came into use in the season 1999/2000.
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