Real Betis

Real Betis Balompié

Full name	Real Betis Balompié S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Béticos del Universo Verdiblancos
Founded	1907
Ground	Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, Seville (Capacity: 52,745)
Chairman	José León Gómez
Manager	Pepe Mel
League	Segunda División
2009-10	Segunda División, 4th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Real Betis Balompié S.A.D. is a Spanish Segunda División football club based in Seville. Founded in 1907 Real Betis is the 10th most successful Spanish La Liga club, winning the league for the only time in 1935. Other success includes two Spanish Cup wins (1977 & 2005) and five Segunda Division titles.

As of May 2007, a survey found that Real Betis is the 6th most supported club in Spain (3.3%), behind: Real Madrid (32.8%), Barcelona 25.7%, Valencia (5.3%), Athletic Bilbao (5.1%) and Atletico Madrid (4.3%).^[1] And the 37th best followed team in Europe as regard average attendances during the 2007-08 season.^[2]

Real Betis holds the distinction of being the first Andalusian football club to play in La Liga. They dispute the Seville derby against Sevilla FC, a club with which it maintains a historical rivalry. Both the King of Spain Juan Carlos I and his son Prince Felipe de Borbon are honorary members of Real Betis.

History

The name is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the Guadalquivir river. Betis initially attracted support from the working classes although a large number of aristocrats, including the King of Spain also supported the team. Real was added in 1914 after the club recieved patronage from King Alfonso XIII. Some fans argue the Betis is the true Real as it was the first to recieve royal patronage.

Foundation

Great rivals Sevilla Football Club were officially created in October 1905. This was followed two years later (September 1907) by the citys second club Sevilla Balompié. Balompié literally translates as football, as oppose the the most commonly adopted anlicised version: futbol. Balompié was founded by students from the local Polytechnic Academy, and were in operation for two years before being officially recognised (in 1909), despite this 1907 remains the official foundation date of the club. Following an internal split from Sevilla FC another club was formed, Betis Foot-ball Club. 1914 saw the culmination of a merger between Betis Foot-ball Club and Sevilla Balompié. With the patronage title, Real, from King Alfonso XIII the club became Real Betis Balompié.

Fans continued to refer to the club as Balompié, and themselves were known as los balompedistas, until the thirties when Betis and the adjective beticos became common terminology when discussing the club and its followers.

Golden years (the 1930s) and decline

During the Spanish Second Republic both Betis and Madrid dropped Real from their names, thus the club was called just Betis Balompié until after the Spanish Civil War when it would revert back to the full name. Betis marked their 25th anniversary year in style winning their first Segunda División title in 1932, thus becoming the first Andalucian club to join the Spanish First Divisiron.

In the First a great squad was formed under the guidance of Patrick O'Connell which on the 28th of April 1935 won La Liga, to date Betis one and only top division title. This win made Betis only the forth of nine different teams to lift the trophy.

A year later, true to its idiosyncrasies, Betis went from the top down to finish only seventh. This was due to the dismantling of the champion team because of the clubs poor economic situation and the arrival of the Civil War, meaning that just 15 months after lifting the league title only two champion players were left: Peral and Saro. No official league was held during the between 1936 until its resumption for the 1939-40 season and the first year back highlighted Betis decline as exactly five years after winning the title the club was relegated from La Liga.

Darkest period

Despite a brief return to La Liga, which lasted only one season, the club continued to decline and in 1947 the worst fears were reached when they were relegated to the Spanish Third Division. Many fans see the ten years they spent in the Third Division as key to the 'identity' and 'soul' of the club, a time that saw it win sympathies all across Spain. During this time Betis earned a reputation for filling its stadium and having a massive support at away matches, known as the Green March. Years in the Third strengthened the club and when it did return to the Segunda in 1954, it gained the distinction of being the only club in Spain to have won the First, Second and Third division titles. Much of the credit for guiding Betis through this dark period and back into the Segunda lies with chairman Manuel Ruiz Rodriguez.

Benito Villamarin

In 1955, Manuel Ruiz Rodriguez stepped down from running the club beliving he couldn't offer further econimc growth, he was replaced by Betis most famous former president Benito Villamarin. During his reign Betis returned to La Liga in 1958 and achieving a best final league position of 3rd in 1964. His purchase of the Estadio Heliópolis in 1961 is seen as a key point in the history of the club, it was called the Estadio Benito Villamarin until 1997. Villamarin is also credited with helping launch rising star Luis Del Sol, who would go on to earn 16 caps for Spain, but also had to make unpopular decisions such as selling him. Villamarin would step aside after 10 years at the helm and would die of cancer one year later, in 1966.

Just one year after Villamarins' departure the club would again be relegated to the Segunda, then rising and falling almost consecutively until consolidating their place in the First from 1974-75.

Copa del Rey success and Europe

On the 25th June 1977 Betis played Atheltic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, in the final of the Spanish Cup. The match finished 2-2, with Betis winning 8-7 after a staggering 21 penalties. This rounded off a solid season in which the club finished 5th in the league.

Winning the Copa del Rey meant Betis would be competing in the European Cup Winners' Cup during the 1977-78 season. After knocking out AC Milan 3-2 on aggregate in the first round Betis reached the Quarter Final before loosing to Dynamo Moscow. Despite the strong showing in Europe, in typical Betis fashion the club was also relegated!

The following year Betis quickly returned to the First and a period of good times for the club. The next three seasons saw three top six La Liga finishes and UEFA Cup Qualification in 1982 and 1984. 1982 saw a first round defeat to Benfica, who would go on lose in the final. 1984 was no better after loosing on penalties to FC Universitatea Craiova, again in the first round. In 1986 Betis lost in the final of the now defunct Spanish League Cup.

During the summer of 1982, the Estadio Benito Villamarin hosted two matches as part of the World Cup. It also played host to Spain's famous 12-1 hammering of Malta in order to qualify for Euro 1984.

Economic crisis and Manuel Ruiz de Lopera

Betis again returned to a club rising and falling from the First almost every season until 1992 when it was forced to meet new rules and regulations, meaning the club was required to cover a capital of 1,200 million pesetas. Roughly double that of all the first and second division teams, despite being in the Segunda at the time. In just three months the fans raised 400 million pesetas, an equivilant to between 60-100% of most first division teams. Then vice-president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stepped in providing economic guarantee while himself becoming majority shareholder as the team narrowly avoided relegation from the Segunda.

Serra Ferrer success

After another three seasons in the Segunda, now managed by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, Betis returned to La Liga for the 1994-95 season, when they surprised everyone and finished third, thus earning a return to European competition. The UEFA Cup 1995–96 saw Betis knock out Fenerbahçe (4-1 agg.) and Kaiserslautern (4-1 agg.) before loosing to defeated finalists Bordeaux (3-2 agg.) 1997, thirty years after winning it, Betis returned to the final of the Copa del Rey, again in Madrid, although this time at the Santiago Bernabéu, loosing 3-2 after extra time to Barcelona.

Incidentally Barca was the club Serra Ferrer would leave Betis for that summer, to be replaced by former player Luis Aragonés. Aragonés would only last one season with the club, which included a Quarter Final cup run, this time loosing 5-2 (agg.) to eventual winners Chelsea, and eighth in the league, guaranteeing another year of European football.

Aragonés was followed by the controversial reign of Javier Clemente, who spat at a fan and implied Andalusia was another country! The team slipped down the table, finishing eleventh and being knocked out Europe by Bologna in the third round. For the next couple of seasons Betis went through numerous managers, a relegation and a promotion back into the First, which saw them finish sixth with Juande Ramos at the helm.

Ramos was gone after just one season, this time replaced by former Cup Winners' Cup winning manager Víctor Fernández. He led the team to eighth and ninth in the league and the third round of the UEFA Cup, knocked out 2-1 (agg.) to Auxerre, during his two year reign.

For 2004, Fernandez was replaced by the returning Serra Ferrer who guided the team to an excellent forth in La Liga. They also returned to the Vicente Calderón in Madrid, on the 11th of June 2005 for the final of the Copa del Rey, where they lifted the trophy for only the second time. An extra-time winner from Dani, a player who came through the clubs youth ranks, saw Betis defeat Osasuna 2-1.

Forth place in the league meant Betis has the chance to become the first Andalucian team to complete in the UEFA Champions League, providing they progressed through the qualifying rounds. A 3-2 (agg.) win over big name Monaco was enough for Betis to achieve another piece of unique history. Drawn in Group G, they got a famous 1-0 victory over Chelsea at home, defeated Anderlecht away, drew at Anfield against Liverpool but also lost one game to each opponent, which was still enough for third in group. Dropping into the UEFA Cup Betis progressed one round before loosing to Steaua Bucharest (3-0 agg.) in the Round of 16.

Centenary celebrations

Betis celebrated their centenary year in 2007. The celebrations included a special match against AC Milan, then the reigning European Champions, on the 9th of August, with Betis winning 1-0 thanks to a Mark González penalty early in the second half. On the 16th of August they won the Ramon de Carranza Trophy, beating Real Zaragoza on penalties in the final, having already eliminated Real Madrid in the semi-final.

Surrounding the celebtration it was a time of great change in terms of the playing and technical teams, with eight new signings replacing fourteen departures. During the two seasons, 2006–07 and 2007–08, than encompassed the centenary year Betis had four different managers.

Segunda División

After many years of staving off relegation, Betis' failure in the 2008-09 season culminated with a 1–1 draw against Valladolid at home. With this draw, Betis finished 18th in the table and consequently, was been relegated to the Segunda.

On 15 June over 65,000 Beticos including such icons as Rafael Gordillo, Luis del Sol, Hipolito Rincon, Julio Cardenosa and others joined the protest march in Sevilla with the slogan "15-J Yo Voy Betis" to let the majority owner Manuel Ruiz de Lopera know that it was time to put his 54% share of the club on the market for someone, some entity or the Betis supporters to buy those shares and remove Lopera from the day to day operations of the club."

Despite the protests, no upper management changes were made during the 2009/10 season which would ultimately see Betis fail to gain promotion back to the Primera.

Lopera Court Action and Sale

Sevilla Judge Mercedes Ayala was investigating links between Betis and other Lopera owned businesses leading to him being formally charged with fraud. On 7 July 2010, one week before the start of preliminary court proceedings, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera sold 94% of the shares that he owned (51% of Betis total shares) to Bitton Sport, who is fronted by Luis Oliver, for the surprisingly low figure of 16M Euros, leaving Lopera with only minor shares. Luis Oliver is a man with a ruthless reputation having already reportedly taken two football clubs, Cartagena and Xerez, to the brink of bankrupsy. However, before the sale could be officially sanctioned Judge Ayala froze Lopera shareholdings. Left with nothing, despite putting down a €1 million deposit, Oliver hastily bought a nominal number of shares from a third party and was voted onto the board of directors by the existing members (all former cohorts of Lopera), allowing him to carry on running the club. In response to this Judge Ayala has appointed well-respected former star Rafael Gordillo to administrate Lopera's shares to ensure Lopera is not still running the club and that decisions made are for the benefit of the club not individual board members. ^[3][1]

Stadium information

Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera is a football stadium in Seville, Spain. The stadium is the home ground of Real Betis. It was previously called Estadio Benito Villamarín before the new owner of the club, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, decided to build a new stadium over the old one. Despite much planning, the stadium has yet to be fully renovated, and half of it remains unchanged.

See main article: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera

Colours

The current Real Betis home strip consists of a t-shirt with 13 vertical stripes of green and white, the centennial logo on the left side, white shorts and green socks with a white horizontal stripe at the top.

Evolution

In its initial years Sevilla Balompié dressed in blue shirts with white shorts, which represented the infantry at the time. From late 1911 the team had adopted the shirts of Celtic Football Club, at that time vetical stripes of green and white, that were brought over from Glasgow at the request of Manuel Asensio Ramos, who had studied in Scotland as a child.

When the team became Real Betis Balompié in 1914 various kits were used, including: yellow and black stripes; green t-shirts and a revertion to the blue top and white shorts uniform. By the end of the 1920s Betis was once again sporting green and white stripes, around this time the Assembly of Ronda (1918) saw the Andalucian region formally adopt these colours, it is not known how much the two are linked.

Since then this has been the strip of Betis, despite several versions including wider stripes etc., the basic 13 vertical stripe formula has remained the same.

Seville derby

Betis have a long standing rivalry with Seville city neighbours Sevilla F.C., the two have met 114 times in official competition (La Liga, Segunda Division and Copa del Rey). Sevilla holds a 45% win ratio over Betis (31%).

History

The first match between Betis and Sevilla took place on the 8th of February 1915, with Sevilla winning 4-3. However, during the match the tension got too much and a very aggressive crowd soon invaded the pitch, forcing the referee to abandon the match.

In 1916 the first Copa Andalucia was held, this would be the official derby of the Seville area. Of the 17 runnings of the cup, Sevilla were victorius 14 times to the one time Betis would take the crown. The rivals would face each other many times during the tournaments with 10 Sevilla wins, 4 draws and again only one Betis win.

In 1918, Sevilla destroyed Betis 22-0 after the youth were sent out to play

The first time the teams met in league, unfortunately in the Segunda División, was during the first league season (1928-29) and both teams were victorious in their home matches, 3-0 and 2-1.

They met for the first time in La Liga during the 1934-35 season, with a 3-0 home defeat for Sevilla and a 2-2 draw at Betis. It should be noted that this was also the year of Betis only La Liga title.

To date the biggest offical derby win remains Sevillas' 5-0 home defeat to Betis on the 17th of January 1943.

Betis also won their first meeting in official competition at Sevillas' current Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium, winning by 4 goals to 2, during the 1958-59 season.

More recently that matches have been marred by violence, including: a security guard attacked by a Sevilla fan with a crutch (that he did not require to walk), Betis goalkeeper Toni Prats being attacked and then Sevilla manager Juande Ramos ebing struck by a bottle of water. The Ramos incident led the 2007 Copa del Rey match being suspended, it was played out three weeks later in Getafe with no spectators.

The last time the derby took place was the 7th of February 2009 at the Sánchez Pizjuán and ending in a 2-1 Betis win. However, this was only a minor consolation for the Beticos as their were relegated while Sevilla finished 3rd, qualifying for the Champions League.

Statistics

First Division

Played 84, with 18 draws.

• Betis have scored 101 First Division times against their rivals, but have conceeded 118 goals.

Segunda Division

Played 14, with 6 draws.

Copa del Rey

Played 16, with 5 draws.

Club honours

• La Liga:
  • 1 – 1935

• Copa del Rey:
  • 2 – 1977, 2005

• Segunda División:
  • 5 – 1931-32, 1941-42, 1957-58, 1970-71, 1973-74

Minor Tournaments

• Ramón de Carranza Trophy:
  • 5 – 1964, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2007

Competition participation

Domestic

• Primera Division: 46
• Segunda División: 25
• Tercera División: 7

Players

Current squad

As of August 27, 2010 - ^[4][5][6] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Iñaki Goitia 2 DF Isidoro 3 DF Fernando Vega 4 DF David Belenguer 6 DF Rovérsio (on loan from CA Osasuna) 7 MF Juanma 8 MF Arzu (captain) 9 FW Jonathan Pereira 10 MF Juande 11 MF Juan Pablo Caffa 13 GK Casto [7] 14 MF Salva Sevilla 15 MF Rodri 16 DF Antonio Dorado 17 MF David Odonkor

No. Position Player 18 MF Iriney 19 FW Jorge Molina 20 MF Achille Emana (vice-captain) 21 MF José Cañas 22 MF Momo 23 MF Nacho 24 FW Rubén Castro 25 DF Miguel Lopes (on loan from F.C. Porto) 26 DF Miki Roque 27 DF Fran No 28 MF Ezequiel Calvente 30 GK Brimah Razak 31 MF Beñat Etxebarria 37 MF Israel — GK Ricardo

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — DF Nélson (at CA Osasuna until the end of the 2010–11 season) [8] — FW Mariano Pavone (at River Plate until the end of the 2010–11 season) [9]

Reserves squad

For the B team squad, see Real Betis B team squad.

Non-EU players

Notable former players

Club management

Current technical body

Position	Name	Nationality
Head Coach:	Pepe Mel	Spanish
Assistant Coach:	Roberto Rios	Spanish
B Team Head Coach:	Oli	Spanish
Goalkeeping Coach:	José Ramón Esnaola	Spanish
Physical Trainer:	David Gómez	Spanish
Delegate:	Victor Antequera	Spanish
Doctor:	Tomás Calero	Spanish
Doctor:	Santiago Pérez Hidalgo	Spanish
Physiotherapist:	Ildefonso Blanco	Spanish
Masseur:	José Mª Montiel Salas	Spanish
Podiatrist:	Ángel Oliva	Spanish
Recuperator:	Jesús Paredes	Spanish
Kitman:	Jose Manuel Acuña	Spanish
Kitman:	Manuel Barrera Castro	Spanish

Management positions

Name	Nationality	Role
Manuel Ruiz de Lopera	Spain	Owner - Shares Frozen
Rafael Gordillo	Spain	Administrator
Juan Manuel Gomez Porrua	Spain	Administrator
José León Gómez	Spain	Acting President
Rufino González Navarro	Spain	Vice-President
Jaime Rodriguez Sacristán-Cascajo	Spain	Secretary of the Board
Manuel Castaño Martín	Spain	Counselor
Francisco Nuchera Cejudo	Spain	Counselor
Antonio Álvarez Segura	Spain	Counselor
Angel Vergara	Spain	Counselor
Eduardo Peña Rodríguez	Spain	Counselor
Luís Oliver	Spain	Sports Advisor
José Antonio González Flores	Spain	General Manager
Ignacio Lasa Puech	Spain	Communications Director
Manuel Reyes	Spain	Press Officer

Managers

Header text	Header text	Header text
Manuel Ramos Asenio	1911-14, 1914-15
Richard Herbert Jones	1914, 1916	also first President
J.P. Bryce	1917
Carmelo Navarro	1918
Basilio Clemente	1918
Salvador Llinat	1920
Andrés Aranda	1922, 1939-40, 1943-46, 1949-52, 1965
Ramón Porlan y Merlo	1923
Alberto Álvarez	1924
Carlos Castañeda	1925
Juan Armet "Kinké"	1927-30	first year of league competition (1929)
Emilio Sampere	1930-32	Segunda Champions 1932
Patrick O'Connell	1932-36, 1940-42, 1946-47	La Liga Champions 1935
Baragaño	1942-43
Francisco Gómez	1942-43, 1953-55
Pedro Solé	1944-45
José Quirante	1947-48	First to play for both Real Madrid and Barcelona
Manuel Olivares	1952-53
Sabino Barinaga	1955, 1960, 1968-69
Pepe Valera	1955-57, 1967-68
Iturraspe	1957
Antonio Barrios	1957-59, 1967, 1969-1972	Segunda Champions 1958 and 1971
Josep Seguer	1959	Capped 4 times
Enrique Fernández	1959-60	2x Uruguayan League Champion, 3x La Liga Champion (2x Barca, 1x Real)
Fernando Daucik	1960-63, 1968-69	3 time La Liga Champion (2x Barca, 1x Athletic)
Ernesto Pons	1963, 1965, 1966
Doménec Balmanya	1963-64	La Liga Champion, Atletico, 1966
Louis Hon	1964-65	Capped 12 times
Martim Francisco	1965-66
Luis Belló	1966-67
César Reyes	1967-68
Miguel González	1969-70
Esteban Areta	1971-72
Ferenc Szusza	1972-76	Segunda Champions 1974
Rafael Iriondo	1976-78, 1981-82	Copa del Rey Winners 1977
Garcia Traid	1978-79
León Lasa	1979-1980
Luis Cid Carriega	1979-1981, 1984-1986
Luis Aragonés	1981, 1997-98	Spain manager - Euro 2008 winners
Pedro Buenaventura	1982, 1988-89
Antal Dunai	1982	Capped 31 times, 9 goals
Marcel Domingo	1982-83	Capped once
Pepe Alzate	1983-85
Luis del Sol	1985-87, 2001	Betis youth player, Capped 16 times, 3 goals
John Mortimore	1987-88	Portuguese Champion, Benfica, 1977 and 1987
Eusebio Ríos	1988
Cayetano Ré	1988-89	Capped 25 times
Juan Corbacho	1989
Julio Cardeñosa	1990	Part of Copa del Rey winning team, 1977
José Luis Romero	1990-91
José Ramón Esnaola	1991, 1993	Current goalkeeping coach
Jozef Jarabinsky	1991-92
Felipe Mesones	1992
Jorge D'Alessandro	1992-93
Sergije Krešić	1993-94
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer	1994-97, 2004-06	Copa del Rey winners 2005
António Oliveira	1998
Vicente Cantatore	1998
Javier Clemente	1998-99	Current Cameroon manager
Carlos Timoteo Griguol	1999-00
Guus Hiddink	2000	Current Turkey manager
Faruk Hadžibegić	2000	Capped 61 times, 6 goals (Yugoslavia)
Fernando Vázquez	2000-01
Juande Ramos	2001-02	UEFA Cup Winners, Sevilla, 2006 and 2007
Víctor Fernández	2002-04, 2010	Cup Winners' Cup Winner, Zaragoza, 1995
Javier Irureta	2006	La Liga Champion, Deportivo, 2000
Luis Fernández	2006-2007	Cup Winners' Cup Winner, PSG, 1996
Paco Chaparro	2007, 2008-2009
Héctor Cúper	2007
José María Nogués	2009
Antonio Tapia	2009-2010
Pepe Mel	2010-current

Notable former players

Presidents

Domestic position

Recent La Liga history

Real Betis were relegated during the 1999–2000 La Liga season and so competed in the Segunda División during the 2000–01 season. They were promoted on their first attempt.^[10]

Records

Club Records

• Best La Liga position:
  • First - 1934-35

• Worst La Liga position:
  • Twentieth - 1990-91

• Spanish Selección internationals:
  • 26

• Greatest home win:
  • Real Betis 7-0 Real Zaragoza - 1958-59

• Greatest away win:
  • Cádiz CF 0-5 Real Betis - 1977-78

• Greatest home defeat:
  • Real Betis 0-5 Real Madrid - 1960-61, Real Betis 0-5 CA Osasuna - 2006-07

• Greatest away defeat:
  • Athletic Bilbao 9-1 Real Betis - 1932-33

• Greatest recovery for:
  • Real Betis - FC Barcelona: 2007-08: 0-2 to 3-2 ^[11].

• Greatest recovery against:
  • Real Betis - RCD Espanyol: 1999-00: 2-0 to 2-5.

Player Records

• Most Appearances
  • Julio Cardeñosa - 306 (1974-85)

• Top Goalscorer (La Liga)
  • Poli Rincón - 78 (223 games, 1981-89)

• Top Goalscorer (Overall)
  • Manuel Domínguez - 94

• Top Goalscorer (European competitions)
  • Alfonso - 8

• Most Red Cards
  • Jaime Quesada - 7

• First to play for Spain
  • Simón Lecue - 1934

• Most Recent to play for Spain
  • Juanito - 2009

• Most Capped for Spain
  • Rafael Gordillo - 75

• Current Players who appeared at the 2010 World Cup
  • Achille Emana - Cameroon

Pichichi Trophy

Awarded to the La Liga Top Goalscorer every season

• Poli Rincón - 20 (1982-83)

Zamora Trophy

Awarded to the goalkeeper with the lowest goals-to-games ratio at the end of each La Liga season.

• Joaquín Urquiaga - 21 games, 19 conceeded (1934-35)
• Pedro Luis Jaro - 38 games, 25 conceeded (1994-95)

References and footnotes

External links

Official

• (Spanish) Official Website Of Real Betis Balompié S.A.D.