Blogger: Rick

Every country has its own classics if it comes to football matches. England has for example Manchester United vs. Manchester City and Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur, Germany has Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke 04, Italy has AC Milan vs. Internazionale, The Netherlands have Feyenoord vs. Ajax and Spain has FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.

But there’s also another match that really matters in Spain which is played on Andalusian ground, more specifically in Seville: Sevilla FC vs. Real Betis.

For many football fans in Seville, this is the match of the year. This city derby is known as a hard game in which a lot of emotions and tensions are involved. The very first time this game took place was in 1915, with Sevilla F.C. 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. This is just one example of many incidents that have happened over the years. In later years, a security guard was injured by a Sevilla fan with a crutch, a Betis goalkeeper was injured and Seville manager Juande Ramos was struck by a bottle of water.

This rivalry didn’t just appear out of the blue, as both have their own history.

Let’s start with Sevilla F.C. It was founded in 1905 and the team plays in ‘el Estadio Ramón Sanchez Pizjuán’, which has a capacity of 45.500. They won the national ‘La Liga’ once, the ‘Copa del Rey’ five times and the UEFA Cup twice (for the last time in 2007). Those results make Sevilla the most successful Andalucian Football Club, which is also one of the direct reasons for the rivalry between Betis and Sevilla. Sevilla is currently running 11th in La Liga, but because the league has just started, it is likely that there are going to be a lot of changes in the following months.

Real Betis Balompié, which is the full name of the club, was founded in 1914, when Betis Football Club and Sevilla Balompié merged. In the same year they received its royal patronage from King Alfonso XIII and therefore adopted the name Real Betis Balompié. Commonly the club is referred to as Real Betis, and Balompié meaning football. The team plays in Estadio Benito Villamarín, which has a capacity of about 52.000. As far as their prizes go, they won La Liga once, and the Copa del Rey twice. Real Betis is seen as the working-class club, as its rival Sevilla F.C. is seen as the richer, more successful club in Sevilla. Also, Betis fans often blame Sevilla fans for only supporting their team when they’re winning, and not being there for their club in difficult times. Usually, neutral football fans and foreigners have a weak-spot for Betis, because they are the underdog. Betis is currently running 13th in La Liga.

All this together, Real Betis being a working-class club with the most loyal fans (at least through the eyes of the Betis fans) and Sevilla F.C. being the richer club with the best results, explains the rivalry between the two clubs, making each match a match on its own.

The first derby of this season is played on 24 November, when Sevilla F.C. plays in their home stadium. Tickets are available for public, but it’s highly recommended getting your tickets as soon as possible, since it’s a spectacular and very important match.