Sevilla FC

The Señoritos of Seville?

Sevilla FC Club Data

Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. Founded: 1905 Address: C/ Sevilla Fútbol Club, s/n 41005 Sevilla Phone: 00 34 902 51 00 11 Website: www.sevillafc.es Stadium: Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Capacity: 42,649

Late off the Starting Block

Sevilla FC was finally born on October 14 1905 and, in his inaugural speech, the club's first President José Luís Gallegos said that 'All men irrespective of social status and religious and political ideas have their place here.' - hardly elitist in tone and it seems that early matches were little more than a kick about amongst Sevillian locals.

The club had to wait until 1909 to play its first official game once again against Recreativo and until 1913 until it got its first decent ground, El Campo del Mercantil. The following year Sevilla FC won their first Seville Cup and was soon to dominate the Andalusian Cup, which began in 1916 winning 14 out of its 17 editions and finishing runner-up in the other three. For locals then, Sevilla's reputation could well have been the result of jealousy.

However, at national level, the club's best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey in 1921 - not very impressive for a club that carries the name of a city as important as Seville. Similarly, in the first Liga of 1928-29, Sevilla FC weren't able to qualify for the top tier were forced to battle for survival in Segunda División.

A Change of Fortunes

Sánchez Pizjuán was a wealthy Sevillian who became president of Sevilla FC in 1932 and almost immediately the club's fortunes began to change. They had already opened the Nervión Stadium in time for the first Liga and Sánchez Pizjuán had the foresight to buy up the whole of the surrounding area, which is now an important commercial districts of Seville. In 1934, only two years after Sánchez Pizjuán had become president, Sevilla FC were promoted to Primera División for the first time and won their first Spanish Cup then known as the Copa de la República at the end of the next season.

In 1936, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War put an end to national football in Spain and Sevilla FC's short-lived winning streak. However, during the hostilities, while the Nervión was used as offices, Betis's ground the Heliópolis allegedly became a torture centre for Republicans many of whom came from the working-class districts that Betis fans came from.

Whether Sánchez Pizjuán had used his influence with Franco's troops is impossible to tell but it's at this point that the clichés about the club's privileged status begin and the class-based rivalry between Sevilla and Betis deepens.

The Post-War Period

The city of Seville had been one of the first to fall to the Nationalists and at the end of the conflict was less affected than other cities, such as Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, which had suffered heavy bombing and air attacks by the Stuka fighter planes of Nazi Germany.

With a forward line nicknamed 'Los Stukas', in 1939 Sevilla FC began the first post-war season strongly by beating Republican clubs Barcelona 11-1, Valencia 10-3 and Hércules 8-3. They won the Spanish Cup – renamed the Trofeo del Generalísimo - the same year and only missed out on winning the Liga in the very last game of the season.

During the following decade, Sevilla FC's success continued. They won their first and only Liga in 1946 and their third Cup, now the Copa del Generalísimo, in 1948. However, Spanish football entered the Fifties and life in Spain returned to relative normality, they found it increasingly difficult to compete with the traditional big clubs and faded.

In 1956, Sevilla FC qualified for the European Cup and Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán died in the same, leaving as his testimony Sevilla's current stadium, which opened in 1958 and was named in his honour.

The Scandal of 1995

In the early Nineties, the Ley de Deportes – the Sports Law – obliged a number of clubs to become Public Limited Sports Companies. For this reason many clubs have S.A.D. - Sociedad Anónima Deportiva - after their names. Due to their unstable financial situation, Sevilla along with Celta were unable to present the Liga with the necessary financial guarantees and were relegated to Segunda B, the third tier of Spanish football.

In a typically Spanish scenario, Albacete and Valladolid, who should have been relegated, were given their places in Primera. However, the hoo-ha the Sevilla fans created, including one supporter going on hunger strike, made the authorities back down and reinstate the two clubs. So Spain was left in the ridiculous situation of being the only league in Europe with 22 clubs.

What's more Sevilla Fc obviously hadn't learnt their lesson. Their finances were in an appalling state, they went down in 1997, came up again in 1999 but were back in Segunda a season later. So when they were promoted again in 2001, it looked as if they would be lucky to stay up for long.

The Modern Miracle

However, in 2005 – their centenary year - now under Juande Ramos they were back in the UEFA again and this time it was for real. After an amazing run and a nailbighting semi-final against Schalke 04 with the only goal scored by Antonio Puerta, humble Sevilla thrashed Middlesborough 4-0 in the 2006 final and won their first title in more than half a century.

This might have been just a flash in the pan but Sevilla's talented squad proved its worth by hammering Champions League title holders Barcelona 3-0 in the European Super Cup and if that wasn't enough they reached the number one position in the IFFHS ranking of clubs in November 2006. Sevilla held on to the position and celebrated the New Year in style.

In 2007, they went from strength to strength winning another UEFA Cup against Espanyol, the Copa del Rey against Getafe and the Spanish Super Cup by beating Real Madrid.

However, on August 25 2007, three days after their Spanish Super Cup victory, football fans worldwide were moved by events that took place during a Liga match against Getafe.

Antonio Puerta, a local boy who had come up through the youth system, suffered a tragic heart attack during the game and died four days later. As scorer of the only goal in the semi-final of the 2006 UEFA Cup, he had contributed to changing the fortunes of the club and strangely his death changed many people's emotional response to Sevilla FC and the cliché of 'Señoritos' of Seville has been replaced by that of a honest, hard-working and talented side.

Sevilla FC Squad 2008-09

Coach: Manuel Jimenez

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