Sevilla FC (Spain)

Football in the Andalusian Spanish city of Seville was first played by British expats towards the back end of the 1800s. Sevilla Fútbol Club was founded on Burns Night, January 25th 1890, by a group who were predominantly Scottish.

The first president of the club was Mr. Edward Farquharson Johnston, with Hugh Maccoll becoming the first captain. Sevilla’s first match was also the first official game in Spain. It ended in a 2-0 victory over Huelva Recreation.

In 1907, Sevilla Balompíe was formed after an internal fallout with the founding club, followed by Betis Fútbol Club a couple of years later. The pair merged to become Real Betis Balompíe, and would become Sevilla’s local rivals.

Early years were spent playing matches between members at La Trinidad Field and the Mercantile Field. In 1912, the inaugural Copa de Sevilla was competed for, followed by the Copa Andalucia from 1915. Sevilla dominated both competitions, winning the trophies on multiple occasions.

Sevilla moved home grounds to Estadio La Victoria before moving across the city to the new Estadio de Nervión in 1928. Sevilla lost a play-off game to Racing de Santander to see who would compete in the initial Primera División in the 1928-29 season.

Instead, the club was placed in Segunda División, where they were crowned as champions in their debut campaign. Lippo Hertzka was head coach at the time; the sixth appointment since Joaquín Valenzuela was the first recorded in 1908.

In 1933-34, the team led by Ramón Encinas won a second Segunda División title and won promotion to Primera División, the previous title of La Liga. Sevilla lifted the Copa del Presidente de la República, the forerunner of the Copa Del Rey, in 1934-35.

The final was held in Madrid’s Estadio Chamartín and produced a 3-0 victory over CD Sabadell FC, with Guillermo Campanal netting a brace. Sevilla regained the trophy in 1939 with a 6-2 win against Racing Club de Ferrol at Montjuïc in Barcelona thanks to a Campanal hat trick, two goals from Pepillo and one from Raimundo Blanco.

‘Sevillistas’ finished as league runners-up in 1939-40 with Pepe Brand in charge of the team and then again in 1942-43 under Patrick O'Connell, who had previously led rival Betis to their only Spanish league title. A couple of years earlier, President Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, who did much to shape the club, left to manage the Spanish Football Federation.

However, Sevilla were to go one better and claim a league title of their own in 1945-46 with Ramón Encinas coaching and the goals of José Campos and Juan Arza. Patricio Caicedo took over the side in 1947-48 as a third national cup; by now, the Copa del Generalísimo was won by the club.

The final at Estadio Chamartín ended in a 4-1 win against RC Celta de Vigo thanks to a Mariano hat trick and one from Arza. The team continued to finish in the top half of the league and ended in second spot in 1950-51 with former star player Campanal as coach.

In 1955, Sevilla reached another Copa Del Rey final. This time, they lost 1-0 to Atlético de Bilbao with Argentinian Helenio Herrera leading ‘Los Nervionenses’. Satur Grech led the team to another league runners-up position in 1956-57.

The season was marked with sorrow as Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán died suddenly in October 1956. A new stadium was being constructed at the time, with fans deciding that they would like it named in honour of the man who was at the helm when three cups were won.

The 1957-58 campaign saw Sevilla compete in the European Cup for the first time, reaching the quarter finals before going out to Real Madrid, while Campanal and then Diego Villalonga oversaw a league season that only just ended in survival from relegation.

Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán was opened in September 1958 next to the old Estadio de Nervión. Sevilla steadied their league status and then reached the Copa Del Rey final of 1961-62, where a José Carlos Diéguez replied to two goals from Ferenc Puskás as Real Madrid ran out 2-1 winners at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu with Antonio Barrios as head coach.

Sevilla’s top-flight run ended in the 1967-68 season as a returning Barrios couldn’t save his team from relegation. Former fans' hero Arza was in charge as his side won the Segunda División title a year later to regain Primera División football.

Dan Georgiadis was the coach when Sevilla were relegated again in 1971-72. The club were struggling financially from the costs of building Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán with star players Manuel Ruiz Sosa, Juan Batista Agüero and Gallego, along with adjoining land being sold.

After a three-season Segunda División spell, Roque Olsen took the team back up to the top level in 1973-74, where the team generally finished in the middle to lower third of the table, with finances being tight throughout the decade.

Argentinian stars Héctor Scotta and Daniel Bertoni arrived to help the team qualify for a couple of UEFA Cup campaigns in the early 80s under coaches Miguel Muñoz and then Manolo Cardo.

Jock Wallace, Xabier Azkargorta, and Olsen for a second spell and then Vicente Cantatore took charge of the team, with Toni Polster becoming a fan's favourite with his goals. A spell from head coach Víctor Espárrago was followed by Carlos Bilardo as the club hit the headlines.

Diego Maradona was signed from Napoli, but the move wasn’t a great success owing to Maradona’s outside demons and inconsistent performances. Luis Aragonés took over as coach and led his side to the UEFA Cup places in 1994-95. The Spanish FA announced that both Sevilla and Celta Vigo were to be relegated owing to reasons of administration and finance. 

Fans and the club directors protested long and hard before they were readmitted, with the league running with two extra clubs. Toni, Juan Carlos Álvarez, Espárrago, José Antonio Camacho and Bilardo all had future spells as head coach before Julián Rubio was at the helm as Sevilla went back down to Segunda División in 1996-97.

The head coach merry-go-round continued at the club. Vicente Miera and Juan Carlos Álvarez were given an opportunity before Fernando Castro Santos led the team to promotion in 1998-99. The La Liga spell lasted just one season, with Marcos Alonso and then Álvarez unable to help the side beat the drop.

Joaquín Caparrós took over the team and led them back to La Liga at the first attempt. The appointment of a new president, Sevillian lawyer José María del Nido, would see Sevilla enter a new era of unprecedented success after finishing in UEFA Cup positions in both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.

Juande Ramos took over as head coach in the summer of 2005 with a fine young side at his disposal. In the 2005-06 UEFA Cup, his exciting side went through to the final after seeing off Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Schalke 04 along the way, with Antonio Puerta scoring the clinching semi-final goal, which would go down in club folklore.

Middlesbrough were beaten 4-0 in the final at Eindhoven’s Philips Stadion. Enzo Maresca netted twice, with Luís Fabiano and club legend Frédéric Kanouté also scoring as Sevilla ran riot in the final twelve minutes of the game, adding three goals.

Sevilla retained the trophy at Hampden Park as RCD Espanyol were defeated 3-1 on penalties after the game ended 2-2 after extra time. Adriano and Kanouté scored goals before Puerta put away the decisive penalty. The Copa Del Rey was also lifted in 2006-07 following a 1-0 victory over Getafe at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, with Kanouté scoring the only goal. 

Disaster would mar the start of the 2007-08 season. Defender and Antonio Puerta, who had progressed right through the youth ranks at the club, suffered a series of cardiac arrests during a La Liga game against Getafe on the 25th August before passing away two days later. 

The whole city and Spanish football mourned his loss. Manolo Jiménez replaced Ramos, who departed for Tottenham Hotspur in October 2007. He took the team to the Round of 16 in the Champions League in his debut season. Sevilla’s players were naturally receiving attention from elsewhere, with Dani Alves, Seydou Keita and Christian Poulsen moving on.

Jiménez’s team continued to perform well in La Liga, finishing third in 2008-09. In 2009-10, under new coach Antonio Álvarez, the club won a fifth Copa Del Rey. Atlético Madrid were defeated 2-0 at Camp Nou thanks to goals from Diego Capel and new fans' favourite Jesús Navas.

Álvarez was replaced by Gregorio Manzano, Marcelino and Míchel before the appointment of Unai Emery in January 2013. Star players Álvaro Negredo and Navas were sold for large fees, with young players such as Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro coming to the fore. Emery took the team to a third Europa League success in 2013-14. 

Sevilla won 4–2 on penalties against SL Benfica after a 0-0 draw in which Ivan Rakitić was adjudicated to be the man of the match at Juventus Stadium. Rakitić was sold on with Grzegorz Krychowiak and Éver Banega replacing him as Sevilla continued their success on the pitch, married with financial stability. 

The team went on to retain the Europa League in 2014-15. Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk were defeated 3-2 at Warsaw’s Stadion Narodowy, as scored twice in his final game for the club, along with another from Krychowiak, before Seville made it three competition wins in a row.

Liverpool faced Sevilla in the 2015-16 final at St. Jakob-Park in Basel. The Spaniards went in 1-0 down at half time but recovered to win 3-1 and lift the UEFA Cup/Europa League for a fifth time, thanks to two goals from skipper Coke and one from Gameiro. Sevilla also reached the Copa Del Rey final but were defeated 2-0 after extra time by FC Barcelona at Estadio Vicente Calderón. 

President Castro decided to look for La Liga success as well as in the cup competition. Jorge Sampaoli replaced Emery, who headed for Paris Saint-Germain in June 2016. He took the team to fourth place and a Champions League spot after a large investment in the playing squad. 

Eduardo Berizzo took charge for the 2017-18 campaign. He was replaced within a few months by Vincenzo Montella and then by a returning Caparrós to see out a disappointing season despite defeating Manchester United in the Champions League before going out in the quarter finals to FC Bayern München.

The final of the Copa Del Rey was also reached in 2017-18, but the game ended in a 5-0 hammering by FC Barcelona at Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano. Pablo Machín arrived as the new head coach at Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in May 2018 before being replaced before the end of the season by Joaquín Caparrós.

The league finish was enough for Seville to play in the Europa League the following season under new manager Julen Lopetegui, whose side knocked out AS Roma, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United to reach the final at Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion, where Internazionale were beaten 3-2, with two goals from Luuk De Jong being added to by Romelu Lukaku.

Fourth place in La Liga followed in 2020-21, with Youssef En-Nesyri topping the scoring chart, which was replicated twelve months later. Jorge Sampaoli was given the manager's job in October 2022. It would be a season where Manchester United were again knocked out of the Europa League after José Luis Mendilibar had succeeded Sampaoli.

His team went on to see off Juventus, and then win the final against AS Roma on penalties at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest to collect the trophy for a seventh time. Diego Alonso was brought in as manager in October 2023, lasting just a few months before he was replaced by Quique Sánchez Flores. The merry-go-round continued as García Pimienta arrived in June 2024.

The team finished perilously close to relegation with new team boss Joaquín Caparrós helping to see them over the line. Matías Almeyda was given the top job at Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.

Sevilla FC will play in La Liga in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Thursday 10th January 2019

It was the final full day of my Andalusian trip on what had been a fantastic adventure. I dedicated it to having some good walks, a tour of Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and the match that evening between Real Betis Balompié and Real Sociedad.

I’d been struggling with a bad chest, and the cool temperatures by night had caught me out. It had been beautiful by day, but I hadn’t accounted for the drop in temperatures when I’d be at football. Something needed to be done.

Biting the bullet, I entered a local pharmacy on my walk. I tried to show the señor behind the counter my symptoms by mime. It seemed to work as he gave me a box of powders. This would be ideal back home, but not ideal in a foreign land without a kettle. Fortunately, I had a Plan B.

My walk on the way to the stadium tour took me past Sevilla Santa Justa railway station. I figured a café might give me a cup of hot water to mix my medicine. Even better, it had a McDonald’s. I was home and hosed!

Previous experience told me that if I ordered a tea, the bag would come separately. I’d use the water for my medicine and keep the tea bag. Job done! Feeling chipper with myself and my mind telling me that I was already feeling better, I headed on.

Calle Luis de Morales ran from the station around to the Nervión Plaza shopping mall, where I believe Estadio de Nervión once stood. I almost walked past the stadium as it was hidden behind the mall until I caught sight of a mural on the stand wall.

I’d booked the tour for €11 online, including a booking fee for 11am. I soon spotted signs leading to the assembly point, where I was greeted in perfect English by a member of staff who explained how it would work.

I was shown how to download an App on my iPhone, which would give me a step-by-step guide in English as the tour could be carried out at my own pace, unattended. I was also given a pair of earphones and directed to the starting point.

The following ninety minutes were excellent. The listening guide was top class, as were the exhibits on show through two halls of a museum with trophies, videos, images, kit, equipment and busts of former presidents to look at. I took my time to take as much in as possible.

The App directed me to a place in the director’s box where I sat in the beautiful sun and relaxed while listening. I continued downstairs to the home changing room and then down the corridor, stairs and back up a couple of steps to the edge of the pitch for even better views.

Others on the tour seemed to also enjoy it, having photos taken in the home dug out. The continuous two-tier bowl was virtually all red, with boxes and a roof only along the main side. It wasn’t as big as I imagined, but probably a perfect size for a club of Sevilla’s standing.

Saying my gracias, I headed to have a look inside El Corte Inglés and one or two other stores, as I intended to buy some extra clothing for the match. I took the Metro from Nervión to Prado de San Sebastián to continue my walking and sightseeing in a stunning city.

Plaza de España and the walk between there and Catedral de Sevilla in the sunshine were just what the doctor ordered, with its amazing architecture along the way. I wended my way through the old town and eventually bought some socks and long johns before a well-earned siesta. I certainly fancied another visit to the city for a home match of FC Sevilla.