Let’s start with their formal name and a couple of words you may wonder about: Real Betis Balompié. Betis comes from the Roman name for the river in town, now known as the Guadalquivir, and Balompié is the formal name for football in Spanish: balón for ball and pie for foot. Everybody actually calls the game fútbol, though. And Real is…

El Derbi Sevillano, also simply known as El Gran Derbi, is one of the most intense in world football. In fact, the first match between Real Betis and Sevilla, in 1915, was abandoned due to violence. Since then, Sevilla has a slight edge in the more than 100 meetings, with some very noteworthy games along the way. In 1958, when Sevilla opened…

Real Betis Balompié Féminas competes in Liga F, the top league in Spain. Home matches are played at Ciudad Deportiva Luis del Sol, just down the road from the men’s stadium. Check their website for fixture…

The Himno del Betis starts off on the stadium’s loudspeakers with a violin playing, then builds to a remarkable singalong and the fans chanting “Betis” while pushing their scarves forward in unison. The words are roughly thus: We are all here to sing your song we’re crowded together like cannonballs and there is no one who…

Located just south of the city center, Estadio Benito Villamarín, named for a former club president, holds a little over 60,000 people. It’s the fourth-largest stadium in Spain. Although the club has played on this patch of ground since 1929, what exists today was mainly built in the 1990s, with the new South Stand just opened in the last…

GETTING THERE: It’s just under 15 minutes by bus from the city center. From the Jardines del Prado de San Sebastián, take the #34, the #1, or the 1310, 1320 or 1340. It’s also about a 40-minute walk or an easy taxi ride. If you want a taxi afterwards, try to arrange it ahead of time. PUBS: There really aren’t any around the…