Heracles Almelo

Heracles Almelo is a football club from Almelo, The Netherlands. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941.

In the 2004–05 season, Heracles won the title in the Eerste Divisie, so that during the 2005–06 season, Heracles played in the Eredivisie, where they finished 13th. The average attendance in 2004–05 was 5,700 people. In the recent top flight seasons, this has risen to just over 8,300 (close to the maximum capacity of 8,500).

In 2012 Heracles competed in its first Dutch cup final, which it lost to PSV in the Rotterdam Stadium De Kuip.

Stadium

Heracles Almelo currently play at the Polman Stadion in Almelo. The Polman Stadion was built in 1999 with a capacity 6,900, this was expanded in 2005 to hold 8,500. The pitch at the Polman Stadion is artificial turf. Renovation of the stadium is on the way and it will be expanded to hold 12.080 supporters at the beginning of season 2015–16.

History

The club was founded on May 3, 1903 as Heracles, after the demigod son of Zeus. They changed their name on July 1, 1974 to SC Heracles '74 and finally settled on the current name in 1998.

Almelo

Almelo (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑlməloː]) is a 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 of the rolling countryside of Twente, with the industrial centres of Enschede and Hengelo as close neighbours but also with tourist towns like Ootmarsum, Delden and Markelo only a bicycle ride away. Almelo received city rights in 1394. Within the city limits lies the castle of the Counts of Almelo.

Located in the city centre is Huize Almelo, a castle that in its current form dates back to 1662 (This castle is not open to the public). There are mosaics which decorate the walls of the tunnel close to the railway station.

The city is also known for its local association football club Heracles Almelo, which plays in the Eredivisie, the highest football league in the Netherlands. The club uses the Polman Stadion.

History

At the end of the 19th century textile emerged as a major employer and drew many workers to Almelo, at first from within the Netherlands. Since the 1960s workers from Spain and Turkey came to Almelo. The first mosque of the Netherlands was built in Almelo in 1976 for the Turkish population of the city. Almelo also has a sizeable number of Armenians.