Hercules C F

[saintgscot]

https://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/news/article/st-johnstone-announce-hercules-cf-partnership
 

where has this come from and how have our fans got a strong connection. What have I missed. Apart from pre season training there. Not saying it’s a bad thing.

[rik2304]

Do they have any DCMs they could give us? 

We could give them Aldi McCann and Crawfraud in exchange.

[garydavidson]

In the past I had seen a few photos of fans Saints fans at a Hercules game with a Hercules/St Johnstone flag but I don't think I have ever seen it at games in Scotland.

[Sergei]

Think it's a few fans who go for p ups in Alicante every year and got to know some of the locals. 

[saintgscot]

I go somewhere every year for a piss up but can’t see the club making and link to the clubs in the local area I go to. And one of those clubs was Ronaldo’s first club

 

[Pat McGroin]

A big crowd go out every March/April for a few days, catch a Hercules game, have a bevvy and are really friendly with the locals. I think it started due to Kev Kulik having a place out there, and what was essentially a lads weekend away has grown arms and legs. 

[Radford 72]

12 hours ago, rik2304 said:

Do they have any DCMs they could give us? 

We could give them Aldi McCann and Crawfraud in exchange.

Those two would be superstars in the semi-professional fourth tier, where this mob play.

[rik2304]

1 hour ago, Radford 72 said:

Those two would be superstars in the semi-professional fourth tier, where this mob play.

Aww...man. I remember them as a league club from my Championship Manager days.

[blueheaven]

Although they're pretty far down the leagues these days, they were in La Liga just over 10 years ago (when they had our old pal David Trezeguet in their squad), have a 30,000 stadium and play in a city with nearly 340,000 people, so there's obviously a bit of potential there for them to rise up again. Would be interesting to know how their facilities compare to ours. Could be a great experience for the youth academy players of both clubs if some sort of exchange programme gets set up.

All seems a bit odd and out of the blue but I can't really see any negatives to it and can't say I'd be against the idea of heading out to watch a pre-season friendly in the sunshine.

[Radford 72]

34 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Although they're pretty far down the leagues these days, they were in La Liga just over 10 years ago (when they had our old pal David Trezeguet in their squad)...

So chances are they are financial cheats, just like the Turkish mob trying to get us to send them money?

This is why the first thing you should do when you get back from any holiday is delete and block any details of that couple you met from Wolverhampton.

[slf]

Thanks but get them tae fuq.

only use is a piss up in the sun for a few usual suspects.

i never seen there fans over here and don’t want to.

down with this sort of thing

[slf]

13 minutes ago, Radford 72 said:

So chances are they are financial cheats, just like the Turkish mob trying to get us to send them money?

This is why the first thing you should do when you get back from any holiday is delete and block any details of that couple you met from Wolverhampton.

True.

 

[slf]

14 minutes ago, Radford 72 said:

So chances are they are financial cheats, just like the Turkish mob trying to get us to send them money?

This is why the first thing you should do when you get back from any holiday is delete and block any details of that couple you met from Wolverhampton.

And what couple fae Wolverhampton ?

[blueheaven]

1 hour ago, Radford 72 said:

So chances are they are financial cheats, just like the Turkish mob trying to get us to send them money?

Honestly I have no idea - I can't find much online about the circumstances of their relegations, other than this from 2011: https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2011/05/19/inenglish/1305782442_850210.html

What I do find a bit weird is the implication that there was already some sort of existing relationship between the fanbases (dropped into the story as if it was something we should all already be aware of), when as far as I can tell that "relationship" doesn't really stretch any further than a few Saints fans going there on their holidays. But as long as the relationship works both ways, I don't really see any problem or risk in this for Saints.

[blueheaven]

Just noticed they have a former Scotland youth international in their current squad:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Harper_(footballer)

[Pat McGroin]

41 minutes ago, blueheaven said:

Honestly I have no idea - I can't find much online about the circumstances of their relegations, other than this from 2011: https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2011/05/19/inenglish/1305782442_850210.html

What I do find a bit weird is the implication that there was already some sort of existing relationship between the fanbases (dropped into the story as if it was something we should all already be aware of), when as far as I can tell that "relationship" doesn't really stretch any further than a few Saints fans going there on their holidays. But as long as the relationship works both ways, I don't really see any problem or risk in this for Saints.

To be fair, a crowd have been going a few years now and they always tie in with the Hercules ultras group when they’re over there.

Was going to go out earlier this year myself but unfortunately it clashed with me being away with my kids in France.
 

Looks like good craic. and I think the club should be applauded for being proactive.

We always criticise their lack of fan engagement. 

Benefits? Could be access to training facilities in pre season and the perks of having local knowledge in the area is a huge plus, maybe regular youth player and even coach exchanges, which would be a great experience for all. Widening our scope of knowledge and learning how things work overseas can never be a bad thing, especially given how few Scots venture abroad to play football.
 

A summer friendly would be superb, but there are lots of potential perks with little downsides. I’d like to see us do more of this. France, Italy etc. 
 

Italy are now tapping into the Scottish market. It won’t be long until others do. 
 

Look at how Airdrie brought in all those Spanish lower league guys successfully 20+ years ago. I’m sure loads went to Livi. Just by having contacts that know the game out there, you can find gems. Guys like Sanchez Broto, David Fernandez etc. I’m sure there is plenty talent out there that would suit our game but maybe not as suited to the Spanish style.

St Mirren let a young Mahrez slip through their fingers after having him on trial. 

We need to tap into these markets more and I think club links are the way to go. 
 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Pat McGroin

[rik2304]

Must be some good golf courses in the area for Steve and Roddy.

[Sergei]

13 hours ago, Pat McGroin said:

A big crowd go out every March/April for a few days, c

 

2 hours ago, Pat McGroin said:

To be fair, a crowd have been going a few years now

How many are we talking about? Any of them mates of Brown, Flaherty or someone close to the 'Board of Directors'?

[Radford 72]

5 hours ago, slf said:

And what couple fae Wolverhampton ?

Can't remember cause I deleted their details mind.

[Pat McGroin]

8 minutes ago, Sergei said:

 

How many are we talking about? Any of them mates of Brown, Flaherty or someone close to the 'Board of Directors'?

Absolutely nobody involved at the club in any capacity goes. Which is why it came a bit out of the blue. 
 

The closest connection is probably Bev and the rest of the Kaylors. 
 

Kev Kulik has a place out there, it started with a bunch of the regulars that sit down the front of the scoreboard end of the East, in front of the FCU. Kev, Barry, Bear, Bruce, Wee John, Dunbar, Neil and a few others. 
 

But a few of the younger lads go as well, I think this year, it was between 15-20 that went. I don’t know exact numbers but Blair and a few other FCU boys were there. 

I think next year, it’s growing again. Instead of being a lads thing, its going to be open to other halfs 

[Radford 72]

3 hours ago, Pat McGroin said:

Look at how Airdrie brought in all those Spanish lower league guys successfully 20+ years ago.

They are semi-professional.

The two guys you mentioned came from Deportivo and Malaga.

I've nothing against this idea but surely you actually, you know, research into potential partners, not just buddy up with a club cause some of the fans know each other?

The guy based in Spain that seems to have been involved in this has the biggest load of spoofing bullshit on his LinkedIn...

"An independent business advisor dedicated to working with institutional investors seeking to navigate the complexities of allocating investment capital to the Spanish football industry.

On behalf of our clients, we serve as their eyes-and-ears-in-Spain to ensure that they are fully informed of public sentiment, regional economic conditions and fan-based demographics.

We are committed to sourcing the acquisition of sports assets that possess the potential for improved long term enterprise value."

[Pat McGroin]

2 minutes ago, Radford 72 said:

They are semi-professional.

The two guys you mentioned came from Deportivo and Malaga.

I've nothing against this idea but surely you actually, you know, research into potential partners, not just buddy up with a club cause some of the fans know each other?

The guy based in Spain that seems to have been involved in this has the biggest load of spoofing bullshit on his LinkedIn...

"An independent business advisor dedicated to working with institutional investors seeking to navigate the complexities of allocating investment capital to the Spanish football industry.

On behalf of our clients, we serve as their eyes-and-ears-in-Spain to ensure that they are fully informed of public sentiment, regional economic conditions and fan-based demographics.

We are committed to sourcing the acquisition of sports assets that possess the potential for improved long term enterprise value."

Deportivo are currently a 3rd tier team in Spain and Malaga are at the arse end of the 2nd. All 3 of the aforementioned clubs have yo-yo’d. 
 

No matter how you look at it, they took a big career jump in moving to Airdrie. They obviously weren’t first team starters in Spain. 

I see it’s Hercules 100th anniversary this week, I think there’s a St Johnstone flag on display over there with their Ultras.
 

I’m pretty confident this is nothing more than a cordial link that has come about through links between 2 well kent sets of each clubs fans. It’s likely stemmed from Spain as I don’t see us seeking this sort of thing out, unless it’s something Flaherty likes the idea of.

Either way… As long as we aren’t footing a massive bill here for this tie up (which I’m sure we won’t be), I don’t see what the issue is. 
 

If it produces no commercial benefits, we can at least say we tried something a wee bit different and got a pre season game somewhere warmer than Belfast 

 

[Sergei]

Thanks Pat. Great to some good straight forward answers. 

[Duckfundee2]

For some strait facts here, the guys who have been going every year, they didn’t contact saints , the club in Spain did. And let looking at the statement, basically saints have a place abroad to train, at a stadium which has the proper facilities, they aim to work more so on youth football and woman’s football not the first team. What is there not to like? Tommy Wright for years wanted somewhere abroad to train.  Saints wouldn’t sign up to anything that , 1 - would cost money, 2 if there was no benefit to the club. There’s about 20 well known saints fans who go yearly, there is a lot of saints/ Hercules merchandise,  and a massive proportion of their fans who bounce about in saints tops etc. Wait till Saturdays game … you’ll see . Seems like some people are jealous for some reason. 

[blueheaven]

19 hours ago, Pat McGroin said:

To be fair, a crowd have been going a few years now and they always tie in with the Hercules ultras group when they’re over there.

Was going to go out earlier this year myself but unfortunately it clashed with me being away with my kids in France.
 

Looks like good craic. and I think the club should be applauded for being proactive.

We always criticise their lack of fan engagement. 

Benefits? Could be access to training facilities in pre season and the perks of having local knowledge in the area is a huge plus, maybe regular youth player and even coach exchanges, which would be a great experience for all. Widening our scope of knowledge and learning how things work overseas can never be a bad thing, especially given how few Scots venture abroad to play football.
 

A summer friendly would be superb, but there are lots of potential perks with little downsides. I’d like to see us do more of this. France, Italy etc. 
 

Italy are now tapping into the Scottish market. It won’t be long until others do. 
 

Look at how Airdrie brought in all those Spanish lower league guys successfully 20+ years ago. I’m sure loads went to Livi. Just by having contacts that know the game out there, you can find gems. Guys like Sanchez Broto, David Fernandez etc. I’m sure there is plenty talent out there that would suit our game but maybe not as suited to the Spanish style.

St Mirren let a young Mahrez slip through their fingers after having him on trial. 

We need to tap into these markets more and I think club links are the way to go. 

I agree with all of this and think I should probably clarify I wasn't criticising the tie-up at all but just felt it would have been helpful for the club to actually explain the context of how it came about. As it was, the post on the official site about fan groups already having a relationship felt very vague and I feel pretty sure that most Saints fans would have known nothing about it.

On @Radford 72's point about them being semi-professional, I'm not sure how much we can read into that. I've never watched fourth tier Spanish football but there are semi-professional footballers from England (from even lower than England's fourth tier) who have come up here and done very well and I'd expect there to be some technically pretty good players and youngsters at that level in Spain. Perhaps some of those who have been out there could tell us a bit more about what the standard is like.

 

3 hours ago, Duckfundee2 said:

Wait till Saturdays game … you’ll see .

What will we see at Saturday's game?