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Real Betis
Full name	Real Betis Balompié
Nickname(s)	Béticos Verdiblancos Supporters Sur
Founded	September 12, 1907
Ground	Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, Seville (Capacity 52,700)
Chairman	José León Gómez
Head Coach	Paco Chaparro
League	La Liga
2006-07	La Liga, 16th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Real Betis Balompié is a Spanish football club in Seville 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 will celebrate their centenary year this coming 2007/2008 La Liga season.

Real Betis were noted as the 33rd best followed team in Europe as regard average attendances during the 2006/2007 season. ^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 Name and colours 1.3 Domestic success 1.4 Centenary celebrations 2 Stadium information 3 Club honours 4 Competition participation 4.1 Domestic 4.2 European 5 Records 6 Players 6.1 Current squad 6.2 Current reserve/Youth team players 6.3 Important reserve players 6.4 Players on loan 6.5 Recent transfers 6.6 Non-EU players 6.7 Notable former players 7 Club management 7.1 Current technical body 7.2 Management positions 8 Notable former managers 9 Presidents 10 Domestic position 10.1 Recent La Liga history 11 References and footnotes 12 External links

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.

Seville was the venue for the first official football game played in Spain. On March 8, 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 Politecnica on Calle de Cervantes. This club merged with Betis FC in late 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 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 run 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.

They have won La Liga on one occasion in 1935 under the guidance of Patrick O'Connell, and won their first Copa del Rey in 1977. Real Betis 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. The club came close to folding in the summer of 1992 when they were saved by vice chairman Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, current chairman.

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 09 August, 2007. Real 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 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. Betis won the Ramón de Carranza Trophy on 16 August 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.

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

• La Liga:
  • 1 – 1935

• Copa del Rey:
  • 2 – 1977, 2005

• Ciudad de Cartagena Trophy:
  • 1 – 2002

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

• UEFA Champions League 1:
  • 2005-2006

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

• 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: Málaga CF - Betis - 2002-03 - from 2-0 to 2-3
• Greatest recovery against: Betis - RCD Espanyol - 1999-00 - from 2-0 to 2-5

As of 24 August, 2007 - ^{[2] [3] [4]}

No. Position Player 1 GK Ricardo 2 DF Melli 3 DF Fernando Vega 4 DF Juanito (Captain) 5 DF David Rivas 6 DF Branko Ilič 7 MF Juan Pablo Caffa 8 MF Arzu 9 FW Fernando 10 FW Edú 11 MF Mark González 12 DF Damià 13 GK Casto 14 MF Capi 15 DF Nano

No. Position Player 16 FW Mariano Pavone 17 DF Marko Babić 18 MF Alberto Rivera 19 FW Xisco 20 MF Leandro Somoza 22 DF Lima 23 MF David Odonkor 24 FW José Mari 25 FW Rafael Sóbis 26 DF Álex Ortiz 27 MF Juande 28 DF Isidoro 29 DF Zamora 31 MF Rodri

No. Position Player GK Toni Doblas (due to long-term injury)

No. Position Player MF Miguel Ángel (at Levante UD until July 2008) GK Pedro Contreras (at Cádiz CF until July 2008) [5] FW Dani (at Cádiz CF until July 2008) [6] MF Juanlu (at Córdoba CF until July 2008) [7] DF Oscar López (at Gimnàstic de Tarragona until July 2008) [8] MF Maldonado (at Gimnàstic de Tarragona until July 2008) [9] MF Jorge Wagner (at São Paulo Futebol Clube until January 2008)

Main article: List of foreign Real Betis Balompié players

Main article: List of Real Betis Balompié players

As of 24 August, 2007 - ^[10]

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Paco Chaparro	Spanish
Assistant Manager:	Gustavo Siviero	Argentine
B Team Manager:	José Luis Mena	Spanish
Goalkeeping Coach:	José Ramón Esnaola	Spanish
Physical Coach:	Juan Manuel Alfano	Argentine
Recuperation Coach:	David Gómez	Spanish
Doctor:	Tomás Calero	Spanish
Surgeon	Santiago Pérez Hidalgo	Spanish
Physiotherapist:	Ildefonso Blanco	Spanish
Masseuse:	José Mª Montiel Salas	Spanish
Masseuse:	Francisco Bizcocho	Spanish
Podiatrist:	Angel Olivia	Spanish
Helper:	Jose Manuel Acuña	Spanish
Helper:	Manuel Barrera Castro	Spanish

As of 24 August, 2007 - ^[11]

Name	Nationality	Role
Manuel Ruiz de Lopera	Spain	Owner
José León Gómez	Spain	Acting President
Ángel Martín Vega	Spain	Vice-President
Rufino González Navarro	Spain	Vice-President
Jaime Rodriguez Sacristán-Cascajo	Spain	Counsel Secretary
Óscar Arredondo Prieto	Spain	Chief Legal Services
Francisco Nuchera Cejudo	Spain	Counselor
Luís Salcedo Gómez	Spain	Counselor
Javier Páez Ruíz	Spain	Counselor
Balbino de Bernado Barrio	Spain	Counselor
Gregorio Conejo Muñoz	Spain	Counselor
Víctor López García-Aranda	Spain	Counselor
Manuel Castaño Martín	Spain	Counselor
José Manuel Villarán Toribio	Spain	Counselor
Francisco Sánchez Moreno	Spain	Counselor
Fernando Rubiales Torrejón	Spain	Counselor
Diego García León	Spain	Counselor
José Antonio González Flores	Spain	General Manager
Manuel Ortega Momparlet	Spain	Sporting Director
Ignacio Lasa Puech	Spain	Marketing Director
Iván Larriba	Spain	Chief Press Officer

see also Cat:Real Betis managers

Spain Luis Aragonés Domènec Balmanya César Javier Clemente Luis del Sol Llorenç Serra Ferrer Javier Irureta Juande Ramos

Argentina Carlos Timoteo Griguol Héctor Cúper Czech Republic Fernando Daucik France Luis Fernández Hungary Ferenc Szusza

Ireland Patrick O'Connell The Netherlands Guus Hiddink Uruguay Enrique Fernández

SEVILLE BALOMPIÉ 1907-1909: Juan del Castillo Ochoa 1909-1910: Alfonso del Castillo Ochoa 1910-1911: José Gutiérrez Fernández 1912: Juan del Castillo Ochoa 1914: Herbert Richard Jones BETIS FUTBOL CLUB 1909: Eladio García de la Borbolla 1910-1911: Manuel Gutiérrez Fernández 1913-1914: Miguel Folgado 1914: Pedro Rodríguez de la Borbolla REAL BETIS BALOMPIÉ 1914-1915: Herbert Richard Jones 1915-1917: Pedro Rodríguez de la Borbolla 1917-1918: Roberto Vicente de Mata 1918-1919: Eduardo Hernández Nalda 1919-1920: Carlos Alarcón de la Lastra 1920-1921: Jerónimo Pérez de Vargas 1921-1922: Carlos Alarcón de la Lastra 1922-1923: Gil Gómez Bajuelo 1923-1925: Ramón Navarro Cáceres 1925-1926: Antonio Polo Roma 1926-1927: Ramón Cortecero 1927-1928: Antonio de la Guardia 1928-1929: Ignacio Sánchez Mejías

1929-1930: Daniel Mezquita Moreno 1930: Camilo Romero Sánchez 1930-1931: Adolfo Cuellar Rodríguez 1931-1933: Jose Ignacio Mantecón Novasal 1933-1939: Antonio Moreno Sevillano 1940-1942: Ramón Poll Carbonell 1942-1943: Alfonso Alarcón de Lastra 1943-1944: Francisco Cantalapiedra Fernández 1944-1945: Eduardo Benjumena Vázquez 1945-1946: Manuel Romero Puerto 1946-1947: Filomeno de Aspe Martín 1947-1950: Pascual Aparicio García 1950-1952: Francisco de la Cerda Carmona 1952-1955: Manuel Ruiz Rodríguez 1955-1965: Benito Villamarín Prieto 1965-1966: Avelino Villamarín Prieto 1966-1967: Andrés Gaviño 1967-1969: Julio de la Puerta 1969: José León Gómez 1969-1979: José Núñez Naranjo 1979-1983: Juan Manuel Mauduit Caller 1983-1989: Gerardo Martínez Retamero 1989-1992: Hugo Galera Davidson 1992-1996: José León Gómez 1996-2006: Manuel Ruiz de Lopera 2006: José León Gómez

Real Betis currently compete in the top flight of Spanish football, La Liga. Real Betis were relegated during the 1999/2000 La Liga season and so competed in the Segunda División during the 2000/2001 season. They were promoted on their first attempt. ^[12]

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

Official Websites

• (Spanish) Official Website Of Real Betis Balompié S.A.D.
• (Spanish) Official Website Of Toni Doblas
• (German) Official Website Of David Odonkor
• Kit Designers - Kappa
• (Spanish) Kit Sponsors - Andalucia

Fan Sites

• (Spanish) Betis Web
• (Spanish) Musho Beti Web

Articles, News, & Rumours

• (Spanish) Al Final de la Palmera
• (Spanish) AS.com
• (Spanish) Conexión Bética.es
• (Spanish) El Desmarque.es
• (Spanish) Estadio Deportivo.com
• (Spanish) Marca.com
• (Spanish) Mucho Deporte

Real Betis Balompié v • d • e
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