Real Betis Balompié, S.A.D., known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. It plays home games at the 70,000-seat Estadio de La Cartuja.
Real Betis won the league title in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977, 2005 and 2022. Given the club's tumultuous history and many relegations, its motto is ¡Viva el Betis manque pierda! (Long live Betis even though they lose!).
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.
Real Betis originally played in all blue jerseys and white shorts, for no other reason than the easy availability of such plain colours. However, one of the club's founders and team captain, Manuel Ramos Asensio, was keen to take advantage of his relationships made while studying in Scotland, contacted Celtic (whose green and white colours matched the Andalusian regional flag) and obtained the same fabric to make kits for his own club. Ramos had the lines re-orientated from horizontal 'hoops' into vertical stripes to make the shirts (no other Spanish club used the combination at the time). There is no mention of Celtic or Scotland in the history of Betis on the club's official website, but in 2017 the club officially acknowledged the link by producing a special hooped kit to coincide with Andalusia Day. Celtic tribute kit unveiled by Real Betis for Andalusia Day fixture , Daily Record, February 16, 2017 The blue colour is still often used in away kit designs. Real Betis 21–22 Away & Third Kits Released , Footy Headlines, July 28, 2021
On 28 April 1935, under the guidance of Irish coach Patrick O'Connell, Betis won 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 winning 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.
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.
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.
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 UEFA, 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 to qualify for UEFA Euro 1984.
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.
On 11 September 1994, Real Betis played its 1,000th game in La Liga.
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 AJ 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 CA Osasuna.
The league finish meant Betis became the first Andalusian 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 Romanian club Steaua București with a 0–3 home loss. Compared to the previous season, the league campaign was disappointing, with the club finishing in 14th place, just three points off the relegation zone.
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. In the summer of 2006, Serra Ferrer was replaced by Luis Fernandez for the 2006–07 season. However, the two seasons that encompassed the centenary year (2006–07 and 2007–08) were disappointing, with the club having four different managers and barely avoiding relegation in both seasons.
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.
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 administer 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. La venta se cierra en 16 millones a pagar en 5 años (Sold for 16 millions to be paid in 5 years) ; El Desmarque, July 7, 2010
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. Betis were relegated from La Liga with three games still to play in the 2013–14 season, but returned immediately as champions with two games to spare.
On 9 July 2020, Manuel Pellegrini was appointed as Betis manager ahead of the 2020–21 season. Pellegrini guided Betis to a sixth-place finish and a Europa League spot, an improvement since the previous season (2019–20) which saw Betis finish 15th.
On 23 April 2022 Betis won the Copa del Rey final against Valencia CF after drawing 1–1 after 120 minutes and winning 5–4 on penalties. It was the first trophy after 17 years, since they won their second Copa del Rey on 2005 against CA Osasuna (2–1).
The club displayed consistency under Pellegrini's management by qualifying for the UEFA Europa League for three consecutive seasons, finishing fifth and sixth in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons, respectively. The club qualified for the Conference League after a seventh-place finish in 2023–24 season and reached the club's first ever European final the following season. However, they lost to Chelsea 1–4.
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; 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.
On 9 November 2019 more than 10,000 Betis fans visited the team training before the last derby in 2019.
| Primera División | 160 |
| Segunda División | 20 |
| Copa del Rey/Copa del Generalísimo | 32 |
| UEFA Europa League | 2 |
| Overall | 214 |
Source: UEFA.com
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference.
| { class="wikitable" | ||||
| 1929 | 2 | 2ª | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 1929–30 | 2 | 2ª | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1930–31 | 2 | 2ª | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Runners-up |
| 1931–32 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1932–33 | 1 | La Liga | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1933–34 | 1 | La Liga | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1934–35 | 1 | La Liga | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1935–36 | 1 | La Liga | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1939–40 | 1 | La Liga | 11th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1940–41 | 2 | 2ª | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1941–42 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | First round |
| 1942–43 | 1 | La Liga | 14th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1943–44 | 2 | 2ª | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 1944–45 | 2 | 2ª | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | First round |
| 1945–46 | 2 | 2ª | 11th !style="background:#efefef;" | First round |
| 1946–47 | 2 | 2ª | 14th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1947–48 | 3 | 3ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | Fifth round |
| 1948–49 | 3 | 3ª | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | Second round |
| 1949–50 | 3 | 3ª | 3rd !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1950–51 | 3 | 3ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" |
| 1951–52 | 3 | 3ª | 3rd !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1952–53 | 3 | 3ª | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1953–54 | 3 | 3ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1954–55 | 2 | 2ª | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1955–56 | 2 | 2ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1956–57 | 2 | 2ª | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1957–58 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1958–59 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1959–60 | 1 | La Liga | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1960–61 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1961–62 | 1 | La Liga | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1962–63 | 1 | La Liga | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1963–64 | 1 | La Liga | 3rd !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1964–65 | 1 | La Liga | 12th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 1965–66 | 1 | La Liga | 16th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1966–67 | 2 | 2ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1967–68 | 1 | La Liga | 15th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1968–69 | 2 | 2ª | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | |
| 1969–70 | 2 | 2ª | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1970–71 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| { class="wikitable" | ||||
| 1971–72 | 1 | La Liga | 13th !style="background:#efefef;" | Fourth round |
| 1972–73 | 1 | La Liga | 16th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1973–74 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1974–75 | 1 | La Liga | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1975–76 | 1 | La Liga | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1976–77 | 1 | La Liga | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Winners |
| 1977–78 | 1 | La Liga | 16th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1978–79 | 2 | 2ª | 3rd !style="background:#efefef;" | Third round |
| 1979–80 | 1 | La Liga | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1980–81 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Second round |
| 1981–82 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Fourth round |
| 1982–83 | 1 | La Liga | 11th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1983–84 | 1 | La Liga | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Third round |
| 1984–85 | 1 | La Liga | 14th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1985–86 | 1 | La Liga | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | Third round |
| 1986–87 | 1 | La Liga | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1987–88 | 1 | La Liga | 16th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1988–89 | 1 | La Liga | 18th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1989–90 | 2 | 2ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1990–91 | 1 | La Liga | 20th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1991–92 | 2 | 2ª | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1992–93 | 2 | 2ª | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Fifth round |
| 1993–94 | 2 | 2ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 1994–95 | 1 | La Liga | 3rd !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1995–96 | 1 | La Liga | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1996–97 | 1 | La Liga | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Runners-up |
| 1997–98 | 1 | La Liga | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 1998–99 | 1 | La Liga | 11th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 1999–2000 | 1 | La Liga | 18th !style="background:#efefef;" | Second round |
| 2000–01 | 2 | 2ª | 2nd !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 64 |
| 2001–02 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 64 |
| 2002–03 | 1 | La Liga | 8th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2003–04 | 1 | La Liga | 9th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2004–05 | 1 | La Liga | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Winners |
| 2005–06 | 1 | La Liga | 14th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 2006–07 | 1 | La Liga | 16th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 2007–08 | 1 | La Liga | 13th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2008–09 | 1 | La Liga | 18th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 2009–10 | 2 | 2ª | 4th !style="background:#efefef;" | Second round |
| 2010–11 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| { class="wikitable" | ||||
| 2011–12 | 1 | La Liga | 13th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2012–13 | 1 | La Liga | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 2013–14 | 1 | La Liga | 20th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2014–15 | 2 | 2ª | 1st !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2015–16 | 1 | La Liga | 10th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2016–17 | 1 | La Liga | 15th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2017–18 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2018–19 | 1 | La Liga | 10th !style="background:#efefef;" | Semi-finals |
| 2019–20 | 1 | La Liga | 15th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2020–21 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Quarter-finals |
| 2021–22 | 1 | La Liga | 5th !style="background:#efefef;" | Winners |
| 2022–23 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2023–24 | 1 | La Liga | 7th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 32 |
| 2024–25 | 1 | La Liga | 6th !style="background:#efefef;" | Round of 16 |
| 2025–26 | 1 | La Liga | !style="background:#efefef;"TBD |
| + ! Season !! Pos !! Pld !! W !! D !! L !! GF !! GA !! Pts |
| 77 |
| 59 |
| 49 |
| 42 |
| 59 |
| 54 |
| 52 |
| 62 |
| 42 |
| 40 |
| 47 |
| 42 |
| 47 |
| 56 |
| 25 |
| 45 |
| 39 |
| 60 |
| 50 |
| 41 |
| 61 |
| 65 |
| 60 |
| 57 |
| 60 |
| 528 |
| 378 |
| 343 |
| 337 |
| 328 |
| 315 |
| 305 |
| 303 |
| 300 |
| 285 |
| 148 |
| 109 |
| 98 |
| 93 |
| 92 |
| 80 |
| 77 |
| 68 |
| 59 |
| 54 |
| Also first president |
| First year of league competition (1929) |
| Copa del Rey runner-up 1931 Segunda champion 1932 |
| La Liga champion 1935 |
| Tercera champion, 1954 |
| Segunda champion 1958 and 1971 |
| Segunda champion 1974 |
| Copa del Rey winner, 1977 |
| Copa del Rey winner 2005 Qualified for 2005–2006 Champions League |
| Segunda champion, 2011 and 2015 |
| Copa del Rey winner 2022 |
With a 60,720-seat capacity, the Estadio Benito Villamarín is the home ground of Real Betis. It was named Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera during the 2000s 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.
Due to a major renovation on Estadio Benito Villamarín, Real Betis will play their home matches at Estadio de La Cartuja from the 2025-26 season until 2028.
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).
Together with the basic green-and-white shirt, Betis has wore both black and green shorts in addition to white shorts.
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