JS Hercules

JS Hercules

Full name	Jalkapalloseura Hercules ry.
Nickname(s)	Herkku
Founded	1998
Ground	Castrén
Chairman
Manager
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

JS Hercules is an association football club established in Oulu, Finland, 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  FIN Ville Seppä 2 DF  FIN Joni Leskelä 5 DF  FIN Santeri Ukkola 7 MF  FIN Aleksi Nousiainen 9 FW  NGA 10 FW  NGA Paul Obi 11 FW  NGA 12 DF  FIN Markku Huoponen (C) 19 MF  FIN Miika Vihavainen 21 MF  FIN Miika Lammela

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  FIN Valtteri Kovalainen 23 FW  NGA Junior Obagbemiro 24 MF  NGA Jerome Ogbuefi 25 MF  EGY Karam Hadhoud 27 MF  MKD Calvin N'Sombo 37 FW  FIN Sami Karjalainen 41 GK  FIN Aleksanteri Patronen 45 GK  FIN Darius Kangnissoukpe 80 MF  FIN Samu Himanka

Outside the pitch[]

JS Hercules has combined football and business in creating a yearly seminar, , 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 , 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]

References[]