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Real Betis

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Real Betis Balompié is a Spanish football club in Sevilla founded in 1907. The team currently plays in La Liga. Its home stadium is the 52,700-seat Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera and its home colours are green and white. Real Betis celebrated their centenary year this past year 2007/2008 La Liga season.

Real Betis were noted as the 32nd best followed team in Europe as regard average attendances during the 2006/2007 season.

History

Real Betis holds the distinction of being the first Andalusian football team to play in the La Liga and to reach the UEFA Champions League although city rivals Sevilla already played this competition but with a different format, known as European Cup, in the 1957-58 season. Betis are also the only Spanish club to have won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd division leagues. Supporters of Real Betis are known as béticos. The club came close to folding in the summer of 1992 when they were saved by then vice-chairman Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, who later became chairman and is the current owner of the club.

Early years

Seville was the venue for the first official football game played in Spain. On 8 March 1890 at the Tablada Hippodrome a team from the Seville Water Works defeated the Huelva Recreation Club 2-0. With the exception of two Spanish players on the Huelva team, the players on both teams were British. Despite this historic event, it was not until 1905 that Sevilla FC was formed. The name is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for Guadalquivir river. Betis initially attracted support from the working classes although a large number of aristocracts including the King of Spain also supported the team. The foundation date is disputed. The 1907 foundation date comes from Sevilla Balompie, a club founded by students from the Escuela Politecnica on Calle de Cervantes. This club merged with Betis FC in late 1914.

Name and colours

Balompie is the literal Spanish word for football as opposed to the anglicized version, futbol. Betis is one of only a handful of Spanish clubs that use this version in their name. As with other Spanish clubs Real was added after receiving patronage from the King of Spain Don Alfonso XIII in 1914. In 1912, Manuel Ramos Asensio, one of the club's founding members, returned from a business trip to Glasgow with a set of green and black striped shirts, donated by Celtic F.C, and proposed Betis take up the colours. The green and black strip was subsequently deemed unlucky after a losing streak and was replaced by a green and white version - the Andalucian national colours. During the Second Spanish Republic the club was once again called Betis Balompie, reverting to its current name after the Spanish Civil War.

Domestic success

Betis have won the La Liga once - in 1935 under the guidance of Patrick O'Connell - and won their first Copa del Rey in 1977. They made it to the final in 1997 but lost to FC Barcelona. Betis made it to the final again on 11 June 2005 against CA Osasuna at the Vicente Calderón Stadium and won their second Copa del Rey 2-1.

Centenary celebrations

Betis celebrated their centenary year in 2007, during the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 league campaigns. In celebration of their centenary year they played A.C. Milan on 9 August 2007. Betis won the game 1-0 when new signing Mark González scored from the penalty spot early into the second half. On 15 August Betis competed in the Estadio Ramón de Carranza Trophy, playing against Real Madrid in the semi-final, winning the game 1-0 with an injury time free-kick scored by Juan Pablo Caffa. The following day, Betis contested in the final of the Estadio Ramón de Carranza Trophy against Real Zaragoza. The match ended 1-1, with a goal from David Rivas for Betis, before winning the game 4-3 on penalties, with Antonio Doblas decisively saving a Ricardo Oliveira penalty. The summer brought with it a complete change to the Betis squad, with eight arrivals that included Mark González, Ricardo, and Mariano Pavone, and fourteen sales.

Stadium information

Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera is a football stadium in Sevilla, 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.

See main article: Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera

Club honours

Competition participation

Domestic

European

Players

Current squad

As of July 9, 2008 -
(Captain)

Current reserve/Youth team players

Transfers in

(from Fenerbahçe S.K.) (from Toulouse FC) (from Valencia CF) (from Talavera CF to Real Betis B) (from Sporting Lisbon to Real Betis B)

Transfers out

(contract expired to Málaga CF) (loan return to Villarreal CF) (contract expired) (contract expired) (transfer to Sporting de Gijón) (transfer to Málaga CF)

Non-EU players

Notable former players

Club management

Current technical body

As of 24 August 2007

Position Name Nationality
Manager: Paco Chaparro Spanish
Assistant Manager: Juan Merino Spanish
B Team Manager: José Luis Mena Spanish
Goalkeeping Coach: José Ramón Esnaola Spanish
Physical Coach: Carmelo del Pozo Spanish
Recuperation Coach: David Gómez Spanish
Doctor: Tomás Calero Spanish
Surgeon Santiago Pérez Hidalgo Spanish
Physiotherapist: Ildefonso Blanco Spanish
Masseuse: José Mª Montiel Salas Spanish
Masseuse: Francisco Bizcocho Spanish
Podiatrist: Angel Olivia Spanish
Helper: Jose Manuel Acuña Spanish
Helper: Manuel Barrera Castro Spanish

Management positions

As of 24 August 2007 -
Name Nationality Role

Manuel Ruiz de Lopera Owner
José León Gómez Acting President
Ángel Martín Vega Vice-President
Rufino González Navarro Vice-President
Jaime Rodriguez Sacristán-Cascajo Counsel Secretary
Óscar Arredondo Prieto Chief Legal Services
Francisco Nuchera Cejudo Counselor
Luís Salcedo Gómez Counselor
Javier Páez Ruíz Counselor
Balbino de Bernado Barrio Counselor
Gregorio Conejo Muñoz Counselor
Víctor López García-Aranda Counselor
Manuel Castaño Martín Counselor
José Manuel Villarán Toribio Counselor
Francisco Sánchez Moreno Counselor
Fernando Rubiales Torrejón Counselor
Diego García León Counselor
José Antonio González Flores General Manager
Manuel Ortega Momparlet Sporting Director
Ignacio Lasa Puech Marketing Director
Iván Larriba Chief Press Officer

Notable former managers

see also Spain

Argentina

Ireland

Notable former players

Presidents

  • SEVILLE BALOMPIÉ

    • 1907-1909: Juan del Castillo Ochoa
    • 1909-1910: Alfonso del Castillo Ochoa
    • 1910-1911: José Gutiérrez Fernández
    • 1912: Juan del Castillo Ochoa
    • 1914: Herbert Richard Jones

  • BETIS FUTBOL CLUB

    • 1909: Eladio García de la Borbolla
    • 1910-1911: Manuel Gutiérrez Fernández
    • 1913-1914: Miguel Folgado
    • 1914: Pedro Rodríguez de la Borbolla

  • REAL BETIS BALOMPIÉ

    • 1914-1915: Herbert Richard Jones
    • 1915-1917: Pedro Rodríguez de la Borbolla
    • 1917-1918: Roberto Vicente de Mata
    • 1918-1919: Eduardo Hernández Nalda
    • 1919-1920: Carlos Alarcón de la Lastra
    • 1920-1921: Jerónimo Pérez de Vargas
    • 1921-1922: Carlos Alarcón de la Lastra
    • 1922-1923: Gil Gómez Bajuelo
    • 1923-1925: Ramón Navarro Cáceres
    • 1925-1926: Antonio Polo Roma
    • 1926-1927: Ramón Cortecero
    • 1927-1928: Antonio de la Guardia
    • 1928-1929: Ignacio Sánchez Mejías

  • 1929-1930: Daniel Mezquita Moreno
  • 1930: Camilo Romero Sánchez
  • 1930-1931: Adolfo Cuellar Rodríguez
  • 1931-1933: Jose Ignacio Mantecón Novasal
  • 1933-1939: Antonio Moreno Sevillano
  • 1940-1942: Ramón Poll Carbonell
  • 1942-1943: Alfonso Alarcón de Lastra
  • 1943-1944: Francisco Cantalapiedra Fernández
  • 1944-1945: Eduardo Benjumena Vázquez
  • 1945-1946: Manuel Romero Puerto
  • 1946-1947: Filomeno de Aspe Martín
  • 1947-1950: Pascual Aparicio García
  • 1950-1952: Francisco de la Cerda Carmona
  • 1952-1955: Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez
  • 1955-1965: Benito Villamarín Prieto
  • 1965-1966: Avelino Villamarín Prieto
  • 1966-1967: Andrés Gaviño
  • 1967-1969: Julio de la Puerta
  • 1969: José León Gómez
  • 1969-1979: José Núñez Naranjo
  • 1979-1983: Juan Manuel Mauduit Caller
  • 1983-1989: Gerardo Martínez Retamero
  • 1989-1992: Hugo Galera Davidson
  • 1992-1996: José León Gómez
  • 1996-2006: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera
  • 2006: José León Gómez

Domestic position

Recent La Liga history

Real Betis currently compete in the top flight of Spanish football, La Liga. Real Betis were relegated during the 1999/2000 La Liga season and so competed in the Segunda División during the 2000/2001 season. They were promoted on their first attempt.
Season Pos P W D L F A Pts
1996-97 4 42 21 14 7 81 46 77
1997-98 8 38 17 8 13 49 50 59
1998-99 11 38 14 7 17 47 58 49
1999-00 18 38 11 9 18 33 56 42
2001-02 6 38 15 14 9 42 34 59
2002-03 8 38 14 12 12 56 53 54
2003-04 9 38 13 13 12 46 43 52
2004-05 4 38 16 14 8 62 50 62
2005-06 14 38 10 12 16 34 51 42
2006-07 16 38 8 16 14 36 49 40
2007-08 13 38 12 11 15 45 51 47

Records

References and footnotes

External links

Official Websites

Fan Sites

Articles, News, & Rumours



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Last updated on Friday July 25, 2008 at 01:09:41 PDT (GMT -0700)
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