Real Betis

Real Betis Balompié is a Spanish football club in Seville founded in 1907. The team currently plays in the La Liga. Its home stadium is the 52,700 seater Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, and home colors are green and white.

History

Seville was the venue for the first official football game played in Spain. On March 8th 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 Baetica, the Roman name for Andalusia. Because of its origins, Betis initially attracted support from the working classes. 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 in 1914. 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 Spanish royal family. 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 and proposed Betis take up the colours. The green and black stripe was subsequently deemed unlucky after a losing run and was replaced by a green and white version. During the Second Spanish Republic the club was once again called Betis Balompie, reverting to its current name after the Spanish Civil War.

They have won La Liga on one occasion in 1935, and the Copa del Rey in 1977 and 2005. The club came close to folding in the summer of 1992 when they were saved by vice chairman Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, current chairman.

They came very close to winning their second Copa del Rey in 1997 when they were pipped by FC Barcelona. Betis finally won their second in 2005, in the final against CA Osasuna at Vicente Calderón stadium on June 11.

Real Betis also holds the distinction of being the first Andalusian football team to play in the Primera Division and to reach the UEFA Champions League although Sevilla FC already played this competition but with a different format, known as European Cup, in the 1957/58 season. Supporters of Real Betis are known as béticos.

There is a big rivalry between the two first teams in the city of Seville, Sevilla FC and Real Betis.

Trophies

La Liga:1
- 1934-35
Copa del Rey:2
- 1977, 2005

1 Participations in the UEFA Champions League
6 Participations in the UEFA Cup
42 seasons in the Primera Division
25 seasons in the Segunda División
7 seasons in the Tercera División

Current squad 2006/07

''The numbers are established according to the official website:www.realbetisbalompie.es and www.lfp.es

As of February 1 2006

Squad changes during 2006/07 season

In:

Ricardo Oliveira - Return From São Paulo
Juanlu - Return From Albacete Balompié
Niño - Return From CD Numancia
Benjamín - Return From Cádiz CF
Vega - Signed From Lorca Deportiva
Maldonado - Return From Lorca Deportiva
Oscar Lopez - Signed From FC Barcelona
Romero - Signed From Deportivo de La Coruna
Damià - Signed From FC Barcelona

Out:

Cañas - Transferred To CD Alcalá
Varela - Transferred To RCD Mallorca
Castellini - Transferred To Udinese Calcio
Luis Fernandez - Transferred To Racing de Santander
Tardelli - Return To São Paulo
Israel - On Loan To Real Madrid Castilla

Statistics 2005/06

La Liga	Position	Pts	P	W	D	L	F	A
Real Betis Balompie	14	42	38	10	12	16	34	51

Top Scorers:
- Robert - 7 goals
- Dani - 5 goals
- Oliveira - 5 goals
Top Goalkeepers:
- Doblas - 37 goals in 24 matches
- Contreras - 14 goals in 17 matches

Stadium Information

Name: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera
City: Seville
Capacity: 52,500
Inauguration: 2000
Pitch size: 107 x 64 mts.
Other Facilities: Ciudad Deportiva Ruiz de Lopera'''

Famous players

see also

Famous Coaches

see also

Contact details

Address

Associates Members: 38,000
Fan Groups: 316

Avda. Heliópolis, s/n. ,
Sevilla,
Province of Sevilla,
Andalusia,
Real Betis Official Website,
Real Betis Official E-mail,
Spain.

Phone numbers

Telephone: 00 34 954 61 03 40
Fax: 00 34 954 61 47 74

External links

1907 establishments | La Liga | Real Betis | Spanish football clubs

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