Real Betis

Real Betis

Full name	Real Betis Balompié, SAD
Nickname(s)	Béticos (Betis) Los Verdiblancos (The Green-and-Whites) El Glorioso (The Glorious One) Verderones (Big Greens) Heliopolitanos (Heliopolitans)[1]
Short name	Betis
Founded	12 September 1906 (12 September 1906)
Ground	Benito Villamarín
Ground Capacity	52,500 [2]
Chairman	Ángel Haro
Manager	Víctor Sánchez
League	La Liga
2015–16	La Liga, 10th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Real Betis Balompié, SAD, more commonly referred to as Real Betis (pronounced: [reˈal ˈβetis]) or just Betis, is a Spanish football club based in Sevilla, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 12 September 1907, it plays in La Liga, having won the Segunda División in the 2014–15 season. It holds home games at Estadio Benito Villamarín in the south of the city.

Real Betis won the league title in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977 and 2005. Given the club's tumultuous history and many relegations, its motto is Viva el Betis manque pierda! ("Long live Betis even when they lose!").^[3]

History

The name "Betis" is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the Guadalquivir river which passes through Sevilla. Real was added in 1914 after the club received patronage from King Alfonso XIII.

Foundation

Betis' city rivals Sevilla FC were the first club in Sevilla, founded in October 1905, while a second club, Sevilla Balompié were established in September 1907. "Balompié" translates literally as "football", as opposed to the most commonly adopted anglicised version, "fútbol". 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 Football Club. In 1914, they merged with Sevilla Balompié. The club received its royal patronage in the same year, and therefore adopted the name Real Betis Balompié.

Fans continued to refer to the club as Balompié and were themselves known as Los Balompedistas until the 1930s, when Betis and the adjective Béticos became common terminology when discussing the club and its followers.

1930s: promotion, championship and relegation

During the Spanish Second Republic (1931–1939), royal patronage of all organisations was nullified, and thus the club was known as Betis Balompié until after the Spanish Civil War when it would revert to the full name. The club reached the Copa del Presidente de la República final for the first time on 21 June 1931, when it lost 3–1 to Athletic Bilbao in Madrid.^[4] Betis marked their 25th anniversary year by winning their first Segunda División title in 1932, finishing two points ahead of Oviedo FC,^[5] thus becoming the first club from Andalusia to play in La Liga.

Under the guidance of Irish coach Patrick O'Connell on 28 April 1935 Betis won the La Liga, to date their only top division title. They topped the table by a single point over Madrid FC.

A year later Betis went down to seventh. This was due to the dismantling of the championship-winning team because of the club's poor economic situation and the arrival of the Civil War, meaning that just 15 months after lifting the league title only two players who won in 1935 were left: Peral and Saro. No official league was held during the Civil War between 1936 and 1939, 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.

Darkest period

Despite a brief return to the top division which lasted only one season, the club continued to decline and in 1947 the worst fears were reached when they were relegated to Tercera División. Many fans see the ten years they spent in the category as key to the "identity" and "soul" of the club. During this time, Betis earned a reputation for filling its stadium and having a massive support at away matches, known as the "Green March".

When the side returned to the second level in 1954, it gained the distinction of being the only club in Spain to have won all three major divisions' titles. Much of the credit for guiding Betis through this dark period and back into the Segunda lies with chairman Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez.

Benito Villamarín

In 1955, Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez stepped down from running the club believing he could not offer further economic growth, he was replaced by Betis most famous former president, Benito Villamarín. During his reign Betis returned to the top division in 1958–59 and finished in third place in 1964. His purchase of the Estadio Heliópolis in 1961 is seen as a key point in the history of the club – the grounds were called the Estadio Benito Villamarín until 1997. In 1965, Villamarín stepped down from his position after ten years at the helm of the club.

Just one year after Villamarín's departure, the club would again be relegated to division two, then rising and falling almost consecutively until consolidating their place in the top level in 1974–75.

First Copa del Rey Title and European Qualification

On 25 June 1977, Betis played Athletic Bilbao at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in the Copa del Rey final. The match finished 2–2, with Betis winning 8–7 after a staggering 21 penalties taken. This rounded off a solid season in which the club finished fifth in the league.

After that triumph, Betis competed in the European Cup Winners' Cup: after knocking out Milan 3–2 on aggregate in the first round, the side reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Dynamo Moscow. Despite their strong performance in Europe, the team suffered league relegation.

The following year, Betis returned to the top flight and ushered in a period of "good times" for the club, with the next three seasons seeing three top-six finishes, as well as UEFA Cup qualification in 1982 and 1984.

During the summer of 1982, the Benito Villamarín hosted two matches as part of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, and also witnessed the Spain national team's famous 12–1 hammering of Malta in order to qualify for UEFA Euro 1984.

Economic crisis and Manuel Ruiz de Lopera

In 1992, Betis found itself subject to new league rules and regulations due to is restructuring as an anonymous sporting group (SAD), requiring the club to come up with 1,200 million pesetas, roughly double that of all the first and second division teams, despite being in level two at the time.

In just three months, the fans raised 400 million pesetas with then vice-president Manuel Ruiz de Lopera stepping in to provide an economic guarantee while himself becoming majority shareholder as the team narrowly avoided relegation.

Serra Ferrer success

After another three seasons in the second division, with the club managed by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, Betis returned to the top flight for the 1994–95 season, subsequently achieving a final third position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup.

In the European campaign, Betis knocked out Fenerbahçe (4–1 on aggregate) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (4–1) before losing to defeated finalists Bordeaux (3–2). In 1997, 30 years after winning the trophy for the first time, the club returned to the final of the Copa del Rey – again held in Madrid, although this time at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium – losing 2–3 against Barcelona after extra time.

Incidentally, Barça 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, leading the side to the eighth position and to the quarter-finals in the Cup Winners' Cup, where they would lose 2–5 on aggregate to eventual winners Chelsea.

Aragonés was followed by the controversial reign of Javier Clemente, who spat on a fan and implied Andalusia was "another country!". The team slipped down the table, finishing 11th and being knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Bologna in the third round. For the next couple of seasons, Betis went through numerous managers, a relegation and a promotion, after which the team finished sixth in the league with Juande Ramos at the helm.

Ramos was gone after just one season, however, being 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 2002–03 UEFA Cup, being knocked out by Auxerre (1–2 on aggregate), during his two-year reign.

For 2004, Fernández was replaced by the returning Serra Ferrer, who guided the team to the fourth position in the top flight. They also returned to the Vicente Calderón on 11 June 2005 for the Copa del Rey final, lifting the trophy for only the second time after an extra-time winner by youth graduate Dani in a 2–1 win against Osasuna.

The league finish meant Betis became the first Andalucian team to compete in the UEFA Champions League, and it reached the group stage after disposing of Monaco in the last qualifying round (3–2 on aggregate). Drawn in Group G, and in spite of a 1–0 home win against Chelsea, the club eventually finished third, being "demoted" to the UEFA Cup, where it would be ousted in the round of 16 by defeated Steaua București (0–0 away draw, 0–3 home loss).

Centenary celebrations

Betis celebrated their centenary year in 2007. The festivities included a special match against Milan, the reigning European Champions, on 9 August, with the hosts winning 1–0 thanks to a Mark González penalty early in the second half. Seven days later, the club won the Ramón de Carranza Trophy held in neighbouring Cádiz, beating Real Zaragoza on penalties in the final, having defeated Real Madrid in the semi-finals.^[6]

Surrounding the celebration, it was a time of great change in terms of the playing and technical teams, with eight new signings replacing 14 departures. During the two seasons (2006–07 and 2007–08) that encompassed the centenary year, Betis had four different managers. During the latter campaign, the club was the 37th-best followed team in Europe regarding average attendances.

Segunda División

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

On 15 June 2009, over 65,000 Beticos, including icons such as Rafael Gordillo, Del Sol, Hipólito Rincón, Julio Cardeñosa and others, joined the protest march in Sevilla with the slogan "15-J Yo Voy Betis" to let the majority owner 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 season, which would ultimately see Betis fail to gain promotion back to the top level.^[7]

Lopera court action and sale

Seville judge Mercedes Alaya was investigating links between Betis and other Ruiz de Lopera-owned businesses, leading to him being formally charged with fraud. On 7 July 2010, one week before the start of preliminary court proceedings, Lopera sold 94% of the shares that he owned (51% of Betis total shares) to Bitton Sport, fronted by Luis Oliver, for the surprisingly low figure of €16 million, leaving Lopera with only minor shares; Oliver had already reportedly taken two football clubs, Cartagena and Xerez, to the brink of bankruptcy.^[8]

Before the sale could be officially sanctioned, however, 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, the judge appointed well-respected former Betis, Real Madrid and Spain national team legend Rafael Gordillo to administrate Lopera's shares to ensure Lopera was not still running the club and that decisions made were for the benefit of the club not individual board members.^[9]

La Liga return

Again under Pepe Mel, Betis started 2011–12 with four wins in as many games, with Rubén Castro retaining his goal scoring form from the previous season, where he scored 27 goals. Betis finished 13th in their first season since returning to La Liga.

In the 2012–13 season, Betis finished seventh in La Liga and qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the first European qualification for the club since the 2005–06 Champions League. This European campaign ended in the quarter-finals after losing on penalties to local rivals Sevilla.^[10] Betis were relegated from La Liga with three games still to play in the 2013–14 season,^[11] but returned immediately as champions with two games to spare.^[12]

Sevilla derby

Betis have a long-standing rivalry with city neighbours Sevilla FC.^[3] The two have met 114 times in official competition, with Sevilla holding a 45% win ratio over Betis (31%).

The first match between the two clubs took place on 8 February 1915, with Sevilla winning 4–3. The match was not completed, as high tensions led an aggressive crowd to invade the pitch, forcing the referee to abandon the match.

In 1916, the first Copa Andalucía was held, this being the first official derby of the Sevilla area. Of the 17 runnings of the cup, Sevilla were victorious 14 times, to Betis' one sole conquest; this included a 22–0 routing after the latter sent their youth team, in 1918.

The first time the teams met in league, in Segunda, happened in 1928–29, with both teams winning their home matches (3–0 and 2–1). They played for the first time in the Spanish top division during the 1934–35 season, with a 0–3 home defeat for Sevilla and a 2–2 draw at Betis, with the latter winning the national championship.

On 17 January 1943, Betis lost 5–0 at Sevilla, eventually being relegated. In the first game held at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, on 21 September 1958, the Verdiblancos won it 4–2.

In later years, several matches were also 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 Sevilla manager Juande Ramos being struck by a bottle of water;^[13] the latter incident led to the 2007 Copa del Rey match being suspended, being played out three weeks later in Getafe with no spectators.

On 7 February 2009, Betis won 2–1 at the Pizjuán, but was eventually relegated from the top flight, while Sevilla finished in third position.

Statistics

La Liga

Team	Wins	Home	Away
Betis	28	18	10
Sevilla	38	26	12

Played 84, with 18 draws.

• Betis have scored 101 goals against their rivals, but have conceded 118.

Segunda División

Team	Wins	Home	Away
Betis	4	2	2
Sevilla	6	3	3

Played 14, with 6 draws.

Copa del Rey

Team	Wins	Home	Away
Betis	4	4	0
Sevilla	7	5	2

Played 16, with 5 draws.

Team statistics

Season to season

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1929 2ª 6th Round of 32 1929–30 2ª 9th Round of 16 1930–31 2ª 6th Runner-up 1931–32 2ª 1st Round of 16 1932–33 1ª 5th Quarter-finals 1933–34 1ª 4th Semi-finals 1934–35 1ª 1st Quarter-finals 1935–36 1ª 7th Quarter-finals 1939–40 1ª 11th Round of 16 1940–41 2ª 7th Round of 16 1941–42 2ª 1st First round 1942–43 1ª 14th Round of 16 1943–44 2ª 7th Round of 32 1944–45 2ª 8th First round 1945–46 2ª 11th First round 1946–47 2ª 14th Round of 16 1947–48 3ª 2nd Fifth round 1948–49 3ª 8th Second round

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1949–50 3ª 3rd Did Not Play 1950–51 3ª 2nd DNP 1951–52 3ª 3rd DNP 1952–53 3ª 5th DNP 1953–54 3ª 1st DNP 1954–55 2ª 5th DNP 1955–56 2ª 2nd DNP 1956–57 2ª 6th DNP 1957–58 2ª 1st DNP 1958–59 1ª 6th Quarter-finals 1959–60 1ª 6th Round of 16 1960–61 1ª 6th Semi-finals 1961–62 1ª 9th Round of 16 1962–63 1ª 9th Quarter-finals 1963–64 1ª 3rd Quarter-finals 1964–65 1ª 12th Round of 32 1965–66 1ª 16th Semi-finals 1966–67 2ª 2nd Round of 16

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1967–68 1ª 15th Round of 16 1968–69 2ª 7th DNP 1969–70 2ª 4th Round of 16 1970–71 2ª 1st Round of 16 1971–72 1ª 13th Fourth round 1972–73 1ª 16th Quarter-finals 1973–74 2ª 1st Round of 16 1974–75 1ª 9th Round of 16 1975–76 1ª 7th Semi-finals 1976–77 1ª 5th Winners 1977–78 1ª 16th Quarter-finals 1978–79 2ª 3rd Third round 1979–80 1ª 5th Quarter-finals 1980–81 1ª 6th Second round 1981–82 1ª 6th Fourth round 1982–83 1ª 11th Round of 16 1983–84 1ª 5th Third round 1984–85 1ª 14th Semi-finals

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 1985–86 1ª 8th Third round 1986–87 1ª 9th Round of 16 1987–88 1ª 16th Round of 16 1988–89 1ª 18th Round of 16 1989–90 2ª 2nd Round of 16 1990–91 1ª 20th Round of 16 1991–92 2ª 4th Round of 16 1992–93 2ª 5th Fifth round 1993–94 2ª 2nd Semi-finals 1994–95 1ª 3rd Round of 16 1995–96 1ª 8th Round of 16 1996–97 1ª 4th Runner-up 1997–98 1ª 8th Quarter-finals 1998–99 1ª 11th Round of 16 1999–00 1ª 18th Second round

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 2000–01 2ª 2nd Round of 64 2001–02 1ª 6th Round of 64 2002–03 1ª 8th Round of 16 2003–04 1ª 9th Round of 16 2004–05 1ª 4th Winners 2005–06 1ª 14th Quarter-finals 2006–07 1ª 16th Quarter-finals 2007–08 1ª 13th Round of 16 2008–09 1ª 18th Quarter-finals 2009–10 2ª 4th Second round 2010–11 2ª 1st Quarter-finals 2011–12 1ª 13th Round of 32 2012–13 1ª 7th Quarter-finals 2013–14 1ª 20th Round of 16 2014–15 2ª 1st Round of 32

Season Division Place Copa del Rey 2015–16 1ª 10th Round of 16 2016–17 1ª

• Seasons in Primera División: 48
• Seasons in Segunda División: 25
• Seasons in Segunda División B: 0
• Seasons in Tercera División: 7
• Participations in UEFA Champions League: 1
• Participations in UEFA Cup: 7
• Participations in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 2

Recent La Liga seasons

Real Betis were relegated during the 1999–2000 season from La Liga, but promoted back 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
2008–09	18	38	10	12	16	51	58	42
2011–12	13	38	13	8	17	47	56	47
2012–13	7	38	16	8	14	57	56	56
2013–14	20	38	6	7	25	36	78	25

Current squad

As of 31 August 2016^[14]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Dani Giménez 2 DF Rafa Navarro 3 DF Álex Martínez 4 DF Bruno González 5 MF Petros 6 MF Felipe Gutiérrez 7 MF Charly Musonda (on loan from Chelsea) 8 MF Jonas Martin 9 FW Antonio Sanabria 10 MF Dani Ceballos 11 MF Matías Nahuel (on loan from Villarreal) 12 DF Cristiano Piccini 13 GK Antonio Adán

No. Position Player 14 DF Riza Durmisi 15 MF Ryan Donk (on loan from Galatasaray) 16 MF Álvaro Cejudo 17 MF Joaquín 18 FW Roman Zozulya 19 FW Álex Alegría 20 DF Germán Pezzella 21 MF Fabián 22 MF Darko Brašanac 23 DF Aïssa Mandi 24 FW Rubén Castro 25 GK Manu Herrera 28 DF José Carlos

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player — MF Dani Pacheco (at Getafe until 30 June 2017) — MF Francisco Portillo (at Getafe until 30 June 2017) — MF Didier Digard (at Osasuna until 30 June 2017)

Retired numbers

26 Miki Roqué (deceased) (2009–12)

Player records

Personnel

Board of Directors

• President: Juan Carlos Ollero Pina ^[15]
• Vice-Presidents: José Miguel López Catalán, Ángel Haro García ^[15]
• Board Members: José Montoro Pizarro, Tomás Solano Franco, Ernesto Sanguino Gómez, José Maria Pagola Serra, Adrián Fernández Romero, María Victoria López Sánchez, Rafael Salas Garcia, Ramón Alarcón Rubiales, Cayetano García de la Borbolla Carrero ^[15]
• Ambassadors: Rafael Gordillo

Technical staff

• Director of Football: Eduardo Maciá ^[16]
• Assistant Director of Football: Alexis Trujillo
• Head Scout: Vasiliki Pappa
• Scouting: Jakob Friis-Hansen, Vlada Stosic, Carlos Vargas, Adrian Espárraga and Paulo Meneses
• Technical Analysis Department: Tino Luis Cabrera (Head) and Jaime Quesada
• Scouting U20s: Juan José Cañas (Head) and Pedro Morilla

Coaching staff

• Manager: Víctor Sánchez
• Assistant Manager: Alexis Trujillo
• Assistant Manager: Capi
• Fitness Coach: José Antonio Asian
• Goalkeeper Coach: David Relaño

Medical staff

• Head of Medical Services: Tomás Calero
• Physiotherapists: Fran Molano, José Manuel Pizarro, Manuel López, Manuel Alcantarilla
• Nurse: José María Montiel

Honours

Official

• La Liga
  • Winners (1): 1934–35
• Copa del Rey
  • Winners (2): 1976–77, 2004–05
  • Runners-up (2): 1931, 1996–97
• Supercopa de España
  • Runners-up (1): 2005
• Segunda División
  • Winners (7): 1931–32, 1941–42, 1957–58, 1970–71, 1973–74, 2010–11, 2014–15
  • Runners-up (5): 1955–56, 1966–67, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2000–01
• Tercera División
  • Winners (1): 1953–54
• Copa de Andalucia (defunct)
  • Winners (1): 1927–28
  • Runners-up (13): 1919–20, 1920–21, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1939–40

Friendly

• Iberian Supercup: Runners-up 1935, 2005
• Ramón de Carranza: 1964, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2007
• Trofeo Colombino: 1968, 1983, 1995, 2009
• Guadiana Trophy: 2004

Individual

Pichichi Trophy

• Hipólito Rincón (1982–83)

Zamora Trophy

• Joaquín Urquiaga (1934–35)
• Pedro Jaro (1994–95)

Managers

Manager	Year	Notes
Manuel Ramos Asenio	1911–14, 1914–15
Herbert Richard 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	Copa del Rey runner-up 1931 Segunda champion 1932
Patrick O'Connell	1932–36, 1940–42, 1946–47	La Liga champion 1935
Cesáreo Baragaño	1942–43
Francisco Gómez	1942–43, 1953–55	Tercera champion, 1954
Pedro Solé	1944–45
José Suárez "Peral"	1946–47, 1948–49
José Quirante	1947–48
Manuel Olivares	1952–53
Sabino Barinaga	1955, 1960, 1968–69
Pepe Valera	1955–57, 1967–68
Carlos Iturraspe	1957
Antonio Barrios	1957–59, 1967, 1969–72	Segunda champion 1958 and 1971
Josep Seguer	1959
Enrique Fernández	1959–60
Fernando Daucik	1960–63, 1968–69
Ernesto Pons	1963, 1965, 1966
Domènec Balmanya	1963–64
Louis Hon	1964–65
Martim Francisco	1965–66
Luis Belló	1966–67
César	1967–68
Miguel González	1969–70
Esteban Areta	1971–72
Ferenc Szusza	1972–76	Segunda champion 1974
Rafael Iriondo	1976–78, 1981–82	Copa del Rey winner, 1977
José Luis Garcia Traid	1978–79
León Lasa	1979–80
Luis Cid	1979–81, 1984–86
Luis Aragonés	1981, July 28, 1997 – June 30, 1998
Pedro Buenaventura	1982, 1988–89
Antal Dunai	1982
Marcel Domingo	1982–83
Pepe Alzate	1983–85
Luis del Sol	1985–87, 2001
John Mortimore	1987–88
Eusebio Ríos	1988
Cayetano Ré	1988–89
Juan Corbacho	1989
Julio Cardeñosa	1990
José Luis Romero	1990–91
José Ramón Esnaola	1991, 1993
Jozef Jarabinsky	1991–92
Felipe Mesones	1992
Jorge D'Alessandro	1992–93
Sergije Krešić	1993–94
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer	1994–97, July 1, 2004 – June 8, 2006	Copa del Rey winner 2005 Qualified for 2005-2006 Champions League
António Oliveira	1998
Vicente Cantatore	Aug 26, 1998 – Oct 26, 1998
Javier Clemente	Oct 27, 1998 – June 30, 1999
Carlos Griguol	1999–00
Faruk Hadžibegić	Jan 2, 2000 – June 30, 2001
Guus Hiddink	Feb 1, 2000 – May 31, 2000
Fernando Vázquez	July 1, 2000 – March 19, 2001
Juande Ramos	July 1, 2001 – May 16, 2002
Víctor Fernández	July 1, 2002 – June 30, 2004, Jan 26, 2010 – July 12, 2010
Javier Irureta	July 1, 2006 – Dec 22, 2006
Luis Fernández	Dec 27, 2006 – June 10, 2007
Héctor Cúper	July 14, 2007 – Dec 2, 2007
Paco Chaparro	Dec 3, 2007 – April 7, 2009
José María Nogués	April 7, 2009 – June 30, 2009
Antonio Tapia	July 1, 2009 – Jan 25, 2010
Pepe Mel	July 12, 2010 – Dec 2, 2013, Dec 19, 2014 – Jan 11, 2016	Segunda champion, 2011 and 2015
Juan Carlos Garrido	Dec 2, 2013 – Jan 19, 2014
Gabriel Calderón	Jan 19, 2014 – May 19, 2014
Julio Velázquez	Jun 16, 2014 – Nov 25, 2014
Juan Merino	Nov 25, 2014 – Dec 19, 2014, Jan 11, 2016 – May 9, 2016
Gus Poyet	May 9, 2016 – present

Presidents

Records

Club records

• Best La Liga position: Champion (1934–35)
• Worst La Liga position: Twentieth (1990–91, 2013–14)
• Biggest home win: Betis 7–0 Zaragoza (1958–59)
• Biggest away win: Cádiz 0–5 Betis (1977–78)
• Biggest home defeat: Betis 0–5 Real Madrid (1960–61, 2013–14), Betis 0–5 Osasuna (2006–07)
• Biggest away defeat: Athletic Bilbao 9–1 Betis (1932–33)
• Biggest comeback for: Betis – Barcelona: 0–2 to 3–2 (2007–08^[17])
• Biggest comeback against: Betis – Espanyol: 2–0 to 2–5 (1999–00)

Player records

• Most appearances: José Ramón Esnaola – 456
• Top goalscorer (La Liga): Hipólito Rincón – 78
• Top goalscorer (overall): Rubén Castro – 121
• Top goalscorer (European competitions): Alfonso – 8
• Most red cards: Jaime Quesada – 7
• First to play for Spain: Simón Lecue – 1934
• Most capped for Spain: Rafael Gordillo – 75
• Spanish internationals: 27

Stadium

With a 56,500-seat capacity, the Estadio Benito Villamarín is the home ground of Real Betis. It was named Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera during the 2000s (decade) after the club's owner, who decided to build a new stadium over the old one.

Despite much planning, the stadium's renovation plans were constantly postponed, and half of it remained unchanged. On 27 October 2010, it returned to its first denomination after a decision by the club's associates.^[18]

Colours

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,^[19] at that time vertical stripes of green and white, that were brought over from Glasgow by 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 reversion 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 Andalusian region formally adopt these colours, not being known how much the two are linked.

Since then, this remained Betis' shirt, despite several versions (including wider stripes).

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Real Betis.

• Official website (Spanish) (English)
• Real Betis at La Liga (English) (Spanish)
• Real Betis at UEFA (English) (Spanish)