JS Hercules is an association football club based in Oulu, Finland. Founded 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]

JS Hercules
Full nameJalkapalloseura Hercules ry.
NicknameHerkku
Founded1998; 28 years ago (1998)
GroundCastrén
ChairmanMarko Halmekangas
ManagerConor Edwards
LeagueKakkonen
2025Kakkonen Group C, 7th of 10
Websitehttp://www.jshercules.com/

History

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When Hercules played their first matches in 1998, some of the players had never previously played in a football club. 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]

Season to season

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Current season

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The club currently plays in Group C of the fourth tier Kakkonen. The reserve team, Hercules-j, plays in the fifth tier Kolmonen.[5]

Current squad

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As of 21 April 2026[6][7] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  FIN Joonas Niinivaara
2 DF  FIN Kasper Rauma
3 DF  FIN Akseli Kantola
4 DF  FIN Santeri Vaihoja
5 DF  FIN Niko Haapalainen
6 MF  FIN Ahti Karppelin
7 FW  FIN Julius Yliniemelä
8 MF  FIN Eeka Huitsi
9 FW  FIN Joonas Kurvinen
10 MF  FIN Konsta Sarajärvi
11 FW  FIN Sebastian Ukura
13 DF  FIN Elias Kotilainen
14 MF  MAR Saad Allali Atifi
17 MF  AUS Gus Higgins
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  FIN Saku Sipola
19 FW  FIN Vertti Korkala
20 MF  FIN Juho Kärsämä
21 FW  NGA Adamu Aliyu
22 DF  FIN Eino Salmela
23 FW  FIN Aapo Pähti
24 DF  NGA Alexander Jibrin
28 MF  FIN Sisu Tervaoja
29 DF  FIN Antti-Jussi Riihiaho
30 DF  FIN Albertti Jauhiainen
72 GK  FIN Eelis Taavettila
98 DF  FIN Lenni Matikainen
MF  FIN Eetu Keskitalo

Outside the pitch

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JS Hercules has combined football and business in creating a yearly seminar, FootCoop, 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 Miguel Huhta, 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.[8] In 2017, the club entered into a partnership with Indian I-League club Chennai City.[9][10]

References

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  1. "JS Hercules history". JS Hercules. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  2. "JS Hercules nousee Kakkoseen!". JS Hercules. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. "Tulospalvelu".
  4. "Finnish Football Archive - Index of SPL Finnish League Suomen Cup Seasons". www.finlandfootball.net. Retrieved 2026-01-01.
  5. "Tulospalvelu". tulospalvelu.palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  6. "Tulospalvelu". tulospalvelu.palloliitto.fi. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  7. "Hercules Juniorit ry - null". Hercules Juniorit ry (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2026-04-21. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  8. "FootCoop 2012 was a success!". Topspot. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  9. Kundu, Abhishek (28 June 2019). "10 Partnerships between Indian and European football clubs which broke down". sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  10. "JS HERCULES OPENS A BRANCH OFFICE IN INDIA AND TIES UP FOR LONG-TERM COOPERATION WITH I-LEAGUE CLUB CHENNAI CITY FC". jshercules.com. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2023.