The Seville Derby | The Biggest Derby in Spanish Football
Real Betis v Sevilla - 2018 | Photo Credit
Without wanting to sound like one of those people who uses the line “if you know, you know”, but this is very much the case when it comes to “El Gran Derbi”, “El Derbi Sevillano”, the Seville derby, or simply Real Betis v Sevilla.
It is almost unanimously agreed upon in Spain that the Seville derby is the biggest in Spain. And when we say ‘biggest’, we mean most intense both on and off the pitch. Nothing to do with TV viewers, highlight watches on YouTube, etc.
Atlético Madrid v Real Madrid is massive. Barça v Espanyol is a real David v Goliath story (which you can read about here). Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad up in the Basque Country is also huge. But ask almost any football fan in Spain and they will tell you that Betis v Sevilla is the most intense game of all of them.
The City of Seville
Before we dive into all of the football and the history of the Seville derby, first here is a bit about the city of Seville, the home city of both Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club.
The city is home to around 700,000 people, making it Spain’s fourth largest city behind Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. It is also the capital of the Spanish region of Andalusia. Football aside, Seville is famous for its architecture and probably most famous for flamenco dancing. It is also usually Spain’s hottest major city, with summer temperatures regularly surpassing 40 degrees celsius. It is not as far south as Málaga or Cádiz, but because it is landlocked it does not benefit from a cooling sea breeze.
But when exploring this lovely city, you are rarely more than just turning a corner away from something green and white, something red and white, some graffiti, or a sticker on a pole, that brings you back to the Seville derby. This is a football crazy city.
A mural in the city by Sevilla ultras ‘Gate 22’ | Photo Credit
History of Sevilla FC
Sevilla FC were the first to be formed in 1890. Although they did not become officially known as Sevilla FC as we know them today until 1905. The club was set-up by a mix of both locals and internationals. As is the case with a lot of football origin stories around this time in Spain, the international men involved in setting up Sevilla were English and Scottish.
It was also in 1905 that Sevilla played a game against Recreativo Huelva. This is known as the first ever sanctioned game of what was known at the time as “association football” in Spain. History was made.
From these beginnings, Sevilla gained the reputation of being the “international club” of the city and attracted fans from all areas of the Andalusian capital, but particularly from the city’s middle class neighbourhoods. Areas of the city known for its wealth like the Nervión neighbourhood, in which the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuén Stadium still stands today.
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Muñoz served as the club’s president from 1932 - 1941 and again from 1948 - 1956. He briefly had to step down due to the political situation in Spain and General Franco’s regime. Under his tenure Sevilla won two Copa del Rey titles and reached the top tier of Spain’s footballing pyramid - La Liga.
Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán y Muñoz | Photo Credit
He died suddenly in 1956 in the middle of planning and construction of a new stadium. The stadium was completed in 1958 and those in charge of the club deemed it only fit that the stadium be named after their late president. It has been the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuén Stadium ever since.
Meanwhile on the pitch, the Sevilla FC we know today are a staple of Spain’s top tier and in recent times have almost always been in the mix for European places. To date they have collected one La Liga title, five Spanish Cups, and one Spanish Super Cup. But it is their record in another competition that really had the footballing world sit up and take notice.
Since the turn of the century it is fair to say Sevilla are the Europa League / UEFA Cup experts. Amazingly from 2006 - 2020 they have won the competition six times, including a three-in-a-row from 2014-2016. Sevilla fans have gotten very used to some European adventures into the business end of the competitions in recent times.
History of Real Betis
And then we have Real Betis Balompié. People often wonder why, when and where do footballing rivalries develop from. In the case of the Seville derby, the hatred and disdain was there from day one.
Real Betis came to be as a club off the back of a disagreement within Sevilla FC. In 1907 Sevilla allegedly refused to sign a player from the Triana neighbourhood of the city. This enraged some members of the club as they felt certain other club members were behaving in an elitist manner and were discriminating against this particular player based on where in the city he was from.
There was a walkout from the club of certain members and Real Betis Balompié was formed in protest.
The club was formed with the vision of being the “people’s club” of Seville and Andalusia. They adopted a green and white kit, in honour of the dominant colours on the Andalusian flag. “Betis” was the Roman word for the river that passes through the city. And within the club’s full title - Real Betis Balompié - the word “Balompié” is an old Spanish word for football (“balom” - ball, “pie” - foot).
Real Betis in their famous green & white stripes | Photo Credit
The name of the club we know today was not established until 1914, but Betis maintain that 1907 was the year the club was born. In 1914 they agreed to take on the royal title, adding “Real” to their name and thus becoming the King’s chosen team in the city. This further cemented their status as the “team of Spain” in the city.
If you are looking for an underdog or David in this derby, it is Betis. In their entire history they have won one First Division title and had three Copa del Rey triumphs. And while their city neighbours are a regular and established presence in European cup competitions, Betis have spent a considerable amount of time in Spain’s second tier, with their most recent spell coming in the 2014/15 season. They even had a stint in “La Tercera” in the middle of the last century.
It is this love of the club even when times have been tough that has brought about the phrase amongst Betis fans - “Viva el Betis” is responded with “Maunquepierda”. Translating roughly as “Long live Betis, even when we lose”.
History of the Seville Derby
Based on all of this you would be forgiven for assuming that this derby is class-based, similar to the derby between Lyon and St. Etienne for example (you can read about the Derby Rhone-Alpes here). But it is not as straightforward as Betis being supported by Seville’s working class and Sevilla by the middle-class.
Both sets of fans disagree as to who is the real “people’s club” of the city, both claiming that title as their own. While there are also no distinct lines or city boundaries where each set of supporters live. They are scattered all over the city, like in Liverpool or Manchester for example. You have plenty of working class Sevilla fans and Betis’ stadium is now located in quite a nice neighbourhood.
Not exactly straightforward, but what derby is?
So by 1914 there were two established teams in the city and given the origin story and the breakaway of Real Betis, things were always going to get tasty on the pitch.
The first Seville derby on record was played in 1915 between the two, resulting in a 1-0 win for Sevilla. They paraded a trophy that they won around the city and the tone was then set for derbies to come. There was also reportedly a derby played in 1909, but the outcome of the game was lost.
Since that day they have played almost 140 times. Sevilla have the upper-hand with wins across all competitions - La Primera, La Segunda, Copa del Rey and in European competitions.
We would be here all year dissecting over 100 years of derby games. So here are some of the most memorable Seville derbies, often for not the most savoury reasons.
In 1918 there was a derby taking place that saw a very ugly incident occur. Sevilla player Manuel Perez was stabbed in his backside by a Betis fan.
In 2002 Betis goalkeeper Toni Prats was attacked by a Sevilla fan at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuén. The fan jumped on Prats’ back while wielding a lighter before he was arrested and removed from the ground.
A more recent and high profile incident in 2007 involved the Sevilla manager at the time Juan de Ramos. Ramos was in his technical area at the Benito Villamarín Stadium during a Copa del Rey quarter-final between the two city rivals. A Sevilla goal was being celebrated when a bottle was thrown from a Betis fan that hit Ramos in the head and appeared to knock him unconscious.
Some Betis fans claim that Ramos faked being unconscious and dramatised the whole event. However he was hit flush on the head… The incident is now known in Spain as the “botellazo”.
The game was abandoned and the remaining minutes of the game were played at a later date in Getafe. Betis received a three-game stadium ban for its fans and for the culprit, he was hit with a fine of about €4000.
While as recently as 2022 there was another unsavoury incident that grabbed global headlines during a Seville derby.
Sevilla player Joan Jordan was struck in the head with a pole that was thrown by a Betis fan at the Benito Villamarín. Betis had just equalised when the incident occured. Jordan received medical treatment on the pitch and the game was eventually abandoned.
There can be no doubts, even amongst Betis fans, as to the seriousness of this particular incident…
The fixture is also capable of throwing up some bonkers scorelines, most recently a 3-5 win for Betis at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuén in 2018.
To Conclude
The Seville derby has always been a huge occasion. Both sets of fans immensely dislike each other and if recent games between the two are anything to go by, there will not be any sort of truce coming anytime soon.
If you casually watch La Liga and usually only tune in for games involving Atlético, Barça and Real Madrid, you should strongly consider paying closer attention to the Seville derby. The standard of football is excellent and the fans, well they really know how to put on a show.
A special shoutout must go to Copa 90’s Eli Mengem and his “Derby Days” documentary on the Seville Derby in 2018. It is an amazing watch and gave us a lot of facts, stats and information that helped write this article. You can follow Eli on Twitter here and you can watch the Seville Derby on Copa 90’s YouTube channel here.