Real Betis Balompié

Born in 1907 as Sevilla Balompié and renamed after the 1914 merger that gave it Betis (from Baetis, the Roman name of the Guadalquivir) and its Real title, the club from Heliópolis is one of European football’s great social phenomena. The trophy count is modest for its size, one league in 1935 and three Copas del Rey, but no table measures beticismo: the Benito Villamarín fills with 50 thousand souls in any division, faithful to the eternal motto “manque pierda”, even in defeat. The colours tell a Celtic story: legend has it that Manuel Ramos Asencio brought the first green and white shirts from Scotland in the early twentieth century. Gordillo shone there, so did the magical Denílson, the world’s most expensive signing in 1998, and above all Joaquín, the eternal captain who retired as the record holder for appearances in LaLiga history. The derby with Sevilla is among the fiercest on the planet. Green, white and stubborn: Betis cannot be explained, only felt.