Betis Deportivo Balompié can trace its lineage back to the formation of Triana Balompié in 1942, a small club from the southwest suburbs of Sevilla. Although the club had an informal relationship with Betis, Triana did not become officially affiliated until 1957. Triana was still playing regional football at this stage, but it finally reached the Tercera in 1964. Up to this point, matches had been played in the grounds of the Escuela Salesiana, a religious college in Triana. Upon reaching the Tercera, home matches were switched to the Estadio Benito Villamarín. Triana remained in the third tier until 1972, when a change of name to Real Betis Balompié B coincided with a drop back to the Regional Preferente.
The stay in the regional leagues ended in 1976. The return to the Tercera coincided with the club adopting the title Betis Deportivo Balompié, but their form was less impressive, and relegation back to the regionals was only staved off by the expansion of the league. On the back of this reprieve, the club began to put together a string of decent finishes, culminating in the Tercera title in 1984-85. In the playoffs, Betis overcame Telde 6-2 on aggregate and then thumped Cultural Leonesa 11-2 over two legs to win promotion. The debut in Segunda B was a bitter-sweet experience, as a 15th place finish would normally secure safety, but a reduction in the size of the league by the Federation saw the club drop back into the Tercera. The club switched between the Tercera & Segunda B a couple more times in the late 1980s, before settling in on a run that would see it play nine seasons in Segunda B during the 1990s.
In 1991, changes by the Spanish Federation to the set-up of reserve team football saw Betis Deportivo Balompié disbanded and Real Betis Balompié B set up as a fully professional unit within Real Betis Balompié. Whilst the decade of the nineties was the club’s most consistent, it never challenged for the promotion spots. A seventh-place finish in season 91-92 was Betis B’s best finish during the Segunda B era. In 1997, club president and all-around megalomaniac Manuel Ruiz de Lopera opened the club’s new training facilities 300 metres to the south of the main stadium, and magnanimously named them the Ciudad Deportiva Ruiz de Lopera. Betis B moved in, and the regular pattern of promotion & relegation between the Tercera and Segunda B continued. Following the reorganisation of the Spanish League systems in 2021, a rare but welcome strong finish in Segunda B saw Betis Deportivo Balompié earn a place in Group II of the Primera División RFEF, the new third tier of Spanish football. Once again, the club struggled to maintain a place in the third tier and dropped to the Segunda Federación a year later. As sure as night follows day, Betis Deportivo Balompié won promotion back to the Primera Federación in 2024 via playoff victories over CE Europa & Pontevedra CF.
Following the acrimonious departure of president Ruiz de Lopera in 2010, the club’s training facility was renamed Ciudad Deportiva Luis del Sol, after the club’s legendary international winger, who also played for Real Madrid and a decade in Italy for Juventus & Roma. The site comprises of three full-size natural pitches and an artificial surface, whose dimensions match those of the Estadio Benito Villamarin. The main ‘arena’ is the most easterly of the pitches and has a full-length two-tiered stand on the western side, which holds 1500. An open terrace runs down the eastern side of the enclosure, bringing the ground’s total capacity to 5000. To the north is the main centre that hosts the changing facilities as well as the club’s medical centre, gymnasium and offices. The Ciudad Deportiva is also home to Betis’ C and the women’s team.
Of course, the principal purpose of a Ciudad Deportiva is to create an environment where the first team can train and the club’s younger players can thrive. However, too many of the modern, out-of-town sports cities that Spain’s top clubs have developed over the past 20 years are devoid of character. Betis deserve praise for ensuring that the main arena at the Luis del Sol is a proper football ground, and a fitting tribute to one of the club’s greatest players.
Estadios de España 