Athletic Club

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Lore & Background

The name 'Betis' is derived from Baetis, the Roman name for the Guadalquivir river which passes through Seville and which the Roman province there was named after. 'Real' ('Royal') was added in 1914 after the club received patronage from King Alfonso XIII. Betis' city rivals Sevilla were the first club in Seville, founded in October 1905, while a second club, España Balompié, were established in September 1907. 'Balompié' translates literally as 'football'. Balompié was founded by students from the local Polytechnic Academy, and were in operation for one year before being officially recognised in 1909 as Sevilla Balompié; 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.

In Their Own Story

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. 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 to win its first ever Copa del Rey title.

Reader's Guide

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!. 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. Betis marked their 25th anniversary year by winning their first Segunda División title in 1932, becoming the first club from Andalusia to play in La Liga. 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. 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 to win its first ever Copa del Rey title. 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. In 1997, 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.

Did You Know?

• Real Betis originally played in all blue jerseys and white shorts, for no other reason than the easy availability of such plain colours.
• One of the club's founders and team captain, Manuel Ramos Asensio, contacted Celtic and obtained the same green and white fabric to make kits for his own club, opting for vertical stripes as no other Spanish club used th
• In 2017 the club officially acknowledged the link with Celtic by producing a special hooped kit to coincide with Andalusia Day.
• 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.
• Betis is the only club in Spain to have won all three major divisions' titles (Primera, Segunda, and Tercera).