Real Betis

Football club infobox
clubname = Real Betis


fullname = Real Betis Balompié
nickname = Béticos del Universo Verdiblancos
founded "Betis Futbol Club")
ground = Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, Seville
capacity = 52,700
owner = flagicon|Spain Manuel Ruiz de Lopera
chairman = flagicon|Spain Pepe León
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager = flagicon|Spain Paco Chaparro
league = La Liga
season = 2007-08
position = La Liga, 13^thcite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Liga_2006-07|work=16th|accessdate=2008-12-04|title=Betis 16th]
pattern_la1=_white_stripes|pattern_b1=_whitestripes3|pattern_ra1=_white_stripes|pattern_so1=_whitehorizontal
leftarm1=008000|body1=008000|rightarm1=008000|shorts1=ffffff|socks1=008000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=005000|body2=008000|rightarm2=005000|shorts2=008000|socks2=008000| t=s
pattern_la3=|pattern_b3=|pattern_ra3=
leftarm3=FFFFFF|body3=0FFFFF|rightarm3=FFFFFF|shorts3=000000|socks3=000000|

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.cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_attendances_of_European_football_clubs|work=topclubs|accessdate=2007-12-09|title=Betis 33rd]

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 Politécnica on Calle 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.

tadium 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

*La Liga:
** 1 – 1935

*Copa del Rey:
**2 – 1977, 2005

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

Competition participation

Domestic

*Primera Division 44:
*Segunda División 25:
*Tercera División 7:

European

*UEFA Cup 6:
**2005-2006, 2002-2003, 1998-1999, 1995-1996, 1984-1985, 1982-1983

Players

Current squad

:"As of September 2, 2008 - "cite web|url=http://www.realbetisbalompie.es/competicion/primerequipo/plantilla.html|work=Realbetisbalompie.es|accessdate=2007-08-05|title=Real Betis Squad] cite web|url=http://www.betisweb.com/plantilla/plantilla.php|work=Betisweb.com|accessdate=2007-08-05|title=Real Betis Squad #2] cite web|url=http://www.lfp.es/competiciones/2007-08/primera/equipo.asp?equ=bet|work=LFP.com|accessdate=2007-08-24|title=Real Betis Squad #3] Fs player|no=4|nat=Spain|name=Juanito|pos=DF (Captain)

Loaned players

Unregistered

Non-EU players

Current reserve/Youth team players

Notable former players

Club management

Current technical body

:"As of 24 August 2007 [ [http://www.realbetisbalompie.es/competicion/primerequipo/plantilla.html Current technical body] ] "

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 Vs. FC Barcelona - 2007-08 - from 0-2 to 3-2

* Greatest recovery against:
**Betis - RCD Espanyol - 1999-00 - from 2-0 to 2-5

References and footnotes

External links

Official Websites
*es icon [http://www.realbetisbalompie.es/ Official Website Of Real Betis Balompié S.A.D.]
*de icon [http://www.david-odonkor.de Official Website Of David Odonkor]
* [http://www.kappa.com/ Kit Designers - Kappa]
*es icon [http://www.andalucia.org/ Kit Sponsors - Andalucia]

Fan Sites
*es icon [http://www.betisweb.com/ Betis Web]
*es icon [http://www.mushobetiweb.com/ Musho Beti Web]

Articles, News, & Rumours
*es icon [http://www.alfinaldelapalmera.com/ Al Final de la Palmera]
*es icon [http://www.as.com/futbol/equipo/Betis-171 AS.com]
*es icon [http://conexionbetica.diariodesevilla.es/ Conexión Bética.es]
*es icon [http://www.eldesmarque.es/content/blogcategory/13/38/ El Desmarque.es]
*es icon [http://www.estadiodeportivo.com/ Estadio Deportivo.com]
*es icon [http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/betis/es/index.html Marca.com]
*es icon [http://www.muchodeporte.com/ Mucho Deporte]