This time four years ago I was halfway through a year-long stint living in Seville. Arguably the most beautiful city in Spain – it is a football hotbed.
You quickly discover where people’s loyalties lie. In Seville the population is divided: You are either a Real Betis supporter (Betico) or a Sevilla fan (Sevillista).
At the time I was there, Sevilla – based in the Nervion district – was the top team in the city and it was to their Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium that I gravitated on matchdays.
Packed with top players such as local lad Jesus Navas, former West Ham striker Freddy Kanoute and ex-Brazil international Luis Fabiano, this was a team that had won two UEFA Cups in 2005 and 2006, run Barcelona and Real Madrid close in the 2006-07 La Liga and reached the Champions League knockout stages in 2007-08.
One of the best club sides in the world at the time, the attraction was obvious. And my time in the city coincided with the 2008-09 season and it was another positive one for Sevilla, who finished third in La Liga thereby qualifying for the Champions League.
Sea change
On the other side of the city at the ground which was then known as the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, 2008-09 would prove to be a year to forget as Real Betis were relegated on the final day of the season.
But heading into 2013, a sea change has occurred in the City. Real Betis have since returned to La Liga and ended 2012 in fifth place – on course for Champions League football as fourth-placed Andalusian rivals Malaga have been barred from next season’s competition due to financial irregularities.
In contrast Sevilla find themselves 13th, just six points off the relegation zone.
It is a situation which will fill Beticos with glee. If you ever get talking to Betis supporters, they are quick to let you know that their club is the best supported in the city – and that Sevilla supporters are interlopers or glory-hunters.
But Sevilla’s slow decline should be a lesson to Real Betis and every other club in La Liga – bar Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Although winning La Liga is virtually impossible, for the teams below the top two it is possible to earn relative success in the Copa and in Europe. But this glory is fleeting and ultimately unsustainable.
When Sevilla were at the height of their success, Navas, Kanoute, Fabiano, goalkeeper Andres Palop and co were at their peaks.
That team had been built in part thanks to the €25 million recouped from the sale of youth team graduate Jose Antonio Reyes to Arsenal in January 2004. (He has since returned to the club, helping Sevilla to a 5 – 1 win over Betis in the first Seville derby of this season).
But without the finances of Spain’s top two, they were unable to rebuild effectively as the Kanoutes, Fabianos and Palops declined or were sold off.
Real Betis might be flying high in the league but they are not in great shape financially as they try to stave off bankruptcy.
The club has been grappling with debts of over €80 million which means current key players such as Beñat Extebarria and Ruben Castro will not be hanging around for very long.
The debt problem is not confined to the Green and White half of Seville either with virtually every team outside the top two in La Liga under some financial constraint.
At present Atletico Madrid are the best of the rest. But they have sizeable debts and are well aware that star man Falcao’s departure is written in the stars regardless of his €60 million buy-out clause.
They will have to start from scratch again in much the same way that Sevilla are doing and Betis will have to do.
