Hercules is in fashion. The t-shirts that can be seen among the people of Alicante who enjoy the mascletàs in the Plaza de los Luceros, where another party was held at the beginning of March, the promotion party, are proof of this. With most people thinking about the future, two Herculaneum wanted to look back to shed light on How the Civil War affected the entity.
Josep Miquel García and Luis Javier Hernández present on June 28 Hercules in the Civil War, a book that addresses “in a rigorous and documented manner, a period in the history of Hercules, between the years 1935 and 1940, ignored to date,” the authors point out.
The idea of creating the work arose in 2018 to have it ready for the centenary of the entityheld in 2022, but since they were both part of the commission, the organization of events and commemorative events took up more of their time than they had planned.
The war cut short many things and also the Herculean aspirations, since, as Hernández recalls, “it nipped in the bud a very good time in the history of Hércules, because it took off as a club, as an institution and sportingly”.
The blue and white team became champions in the second category of Spanish football in 1935 and managed to climb to the First Division, where in ’36 they made “a brilliant campaign finishing in sixth place and generating a lot of enthusiasm for the following campaigns,” he adds.
“Documentary void”
It is from there when a “documentary void” of the history of the centenary entity is created and where the authors have navigated through the memories and images to rescue forgotten and sometimes unpublished information.
“With this book we hope to have filled that void, although there are many things that escape, especially graphically due to the time, since being in any photo that you shouldn’t be in was practically grounds for death penalty”says Hernández.
For his part, García highlights the difficulties they have had in completing the book, especially in the graphic section. To enrich the work they have investigated their own collections, the Alicante Municipal Archive, friends, acquaintances and even military archives. A task that has taken them a lot of time and effort, but they have done “with great enthusiasm”says Hernández.
What has caught the attention of Josep Miquel García the most has been “seeing the court martial against Hércules players and managers.” For Hernández, “the strongest thing was discovering the postwar revenge storieswith murders like that of the coach who promoted the team, Manuel Suárez de Begoña”.
The authors of the book, Josep Miquel Garcia and Luis Javier Hernández.
Tere Llopis
Ontheroad
As Alicante was the last city to fall to Franco’s troops, “when they played away from home they were whistled at and called red.” The players, such as managers and workers, were affected by the conflict and some were sanctioned for their political affinities. Those identified could not return to the playing fields for years and others had to leave Alicante for being on blacklists and receiving death threats.
As recounted in the study, “the post-war Herculean board, sympathetic to the new regime, eager to resume the brilliant sporting career of the 35-36 season, facilitated the return from French exile of two of its most emblematic players, Blázquez and Macià, and took measures to reduce federal sanctions”.
Other teams and stories of the time
They have also delved into the press of the time “to contextualize the study,” says García, since “it not only talks about Hercules, it remembers the Murcian federation where it was registered, the Valencian one, which was the organizer, and we also talked about teams important, of Valencia, Murcia or Elche”.
Hercules in the Civil War touch sports, historical and political topics, Therefore, its target audience ranges from young Herculans to those whose parents and grandparents have told them stories from the time so that they can gain more information.
“There are people who are very fond of the Civil War who may be very interested in the book because of the historical theme,” says García, who is happy that the release of the book coincides with happier times at Rico Pérez.
The creation of the work was carried out during the worst sporting stage in the history of the blue and white team, which meant that “some days it became quite difficult to work when there were defeats, now it is a sweet moment to do anything related to Hercules,” says Hernández.
The presentation of the Ontheroad Llibres book will be Friday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Alicante City University Headquarters, located on San Fernando Street, with free entry until capacity is reached.
