Estadio Jose Rico Perez - Hercules CF

Hercules CF - Estadio Jose Rico Perez

Hércules Club de Futbol S.A.D.

Estadio Jose Rico Perez

Calle Foguerer Romeu Zarandieta

03005 Alicante

Hercules CF Facebook Page

Hercules CF Twitter Page

Hercules CF Official Website

HISTORY/FACTS ABOUT HERCULES CF:

• Hercules C.F. has been documented since 1914 although not officially registered until 26 September 1922, alongside Mercantil de Cartagena, Federación Levantina and others.
• Hercules joined a youth league, becoming champion in 1918. The first official match was in 1919 against Athletic Club Benaluense, Hercules winning 2-1. At first the team played in white and red striped shirts and black pants.
• After first appearing in La Liga in the 1935–36 season, Hércules would play sporadically in the category for the next 40 years, playing mainly in the second division but going as low as the third. From 1961 to 1969, neighbours Alicante acted as its feeder club.
• After a ten-year spell in the top flight, encompassing 12 seasons in the 1970s and '80s, the club only returned again in the 1996–97 campaign. Though eventually relegated, it managed two remarkable comeback wins over Barcelona, which ultimately handed the Liga title to Real Madrid.
• In 2004–05, after five years in the third level, Hércules finished second, being subsequently promoted to the "silver category". After posting three consecutive solid seasons, the club narrowly missed out on a return to the top division in 2009, finishing fourth, three points behind last-promotee Tenerife.
• The 2009–10 campaign saw Hércules promoted back into the top flight after 13 years in dramatic fashion: losing 0–1 at half-time at Rayo Vallecano, the team fought back to win 2–1 in the penultimate game of the season and leap frogged Real Betis into third place. In the last round, a 2–0 away win against relegation-threatened Real Unión guaranteed promotion, with the 4–0 win of Betis over Levante eventually counting for nothing (all three teams – Levante, Hércules and Betis – ended equal on points).
• Early into the 2010–11 season, one year, three months and 19 days after Barcelona's last home defeat in the league, Hércules recorded a shock 2–0 win at the Camp Nou thanks to a brace from Nelson Valdez – Barça had won their last 11 home matches, scored at least three times in each of their last six league fixtures and were protecting a 17-game unbeaten streak. Amazingly, however, this was the Alicante outfit's third successive win over the Catalans, having won both meetings in their previous top flight campaign 14 years before; after a solid first round of 19 games the team slumped in the table, eventually ranking in 19th position for an immediate relegation back.
• In the 2016-17 season, the team returned to stand out, this time in the Copa del Rey where they came to face FC Barcelona. The first match was held in Estadio José Rico Pérez (Hércules' home) where the Catalans sent the reserve team, sparing their starters for a duel against Real Madrid CF. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. In the second match at the Camp Nou (Barcelona's home), Hercules recalled a 2-0 victory over Barca in the same stadium in the 2010-11 La Liga. However, trying to repeat this feat was just a dream, the team was humiliatingly battered by the Catalonian side 7-0.

 

MY VISIT:

Hercules CF 0-1 Atletico Baleares
Saturday 18th May 2019
Spanish Segunda Division Group 3

My 2nd Spanish Groundhop came once again on another holiday in Benidorm. I was eager to tick off another ground, there wasn't many games going around this time of year so of course it was limited. One that I kept an eye on towards the end of the season was of course this one, Hercules v Atletico Baleares. Downside to Spanish games is games don't get announced what day/time kick off during that week and in fact I nearly ended missing this game. It was only Saturday morning I checked to see what time kick off it was for the Sunday as that was originally the game time but as I looked on Saturday morning, it was on that day with a 7pm kick off. Luckily we didn't plan anything that day at the time, so in some ways it was a little bit last minute. Travel wise we only had planned was to get a tram from Benidorm to Alicante which took just over an hour to take.


As we left just after 5, we arrived to Mercado tram stop at around 6.20 with around a 20 minute walk. We got to the ground with about 20 mins before kick off. With a superb price of 10 euros to get in and with a great view, I wasn't complaining at all.The game wasn't a bad game to watch with only downside of only 1 goal. The winning goal of the visitors came towards the end, a cross which saw a header creep in with around 5 minutes plus stoppage to give the visitors the 3 points. Thought the ground was a really good ground to visit for anyone looking to tick off the ground in the near future.


THE GROUND:


The Estadio Jose Rico Perez Stadium has been the home of Hercules CF since 1974. Between 2001 and 2010 it was the home of Alicante CF, but 4 years later in 2014, the club dissolved. The ground is also selected for games of the Spain national side, a recent game between Spain and England to be known in 2015 which saw Spain win 2-0 from Perez Martinez and Santi Cazorla. The ground's capacity holds 29,500. From the local tram stop in Alicante, there are 2 within walking distance. I got off at Mercado which took around 15-20 mins walk.

GROUND PHOTOS: