El Derbi

I think I have now been to more “subway series” in Sevilla than I have in New York.

Side note:

For those of you non-New Yorkers/non-Americans reading this blog (if there are any of you), the subway series is when the best team in baseball (The New York Yankees, obviously) plays against the other team accessible by the New York City subway, the New York Mets. Upon writing this post, I learned that the original use of this term was for a world series between the two New York teams, but since then has been applied to interleague play.

Last Friday night there was a showdown between the two football teams in Sevilla, Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club, said by some to be the most violent rivalry in Spanish football, maybe even the whole world. In my retirement from USC Lacrosse, I don’t find myself playing sports much these days, but I still enjoy watching athletic competitions. So I spent the euritos necessary to experience this incredible face-off (more so between the fans than the players) known as the derbi sevillano. I went with a bunch of other Americans who had never been to the derbi before, and we all got into it as though we had been born and raised beticos.

me and Gabi pre-game

Although there are similarities between the derbi and the subway series (two teams from the same city competing in an athletic event) it is really quite a different experience.

For starters, walking through the streets of Seville during a ‘derbi’ is somewhat eerie, like walking through a deserted ghost town. There is virtually no one on the street. Everyone is crowded into bars, or around televisions or computers in their homes. This match is more than just a game between the two teams in Seville. The winner gains bragging rights until the next derbi, and this is very important when it comes to soccer. The Spanish people are very obsessed with soccer, much like Americans are with football or baseball. When people want to find out which team you support, they don’t simply ask, “which team are you a fan of?” but rather eres betico/a or sevillista (roughly translates to are you Betis or are you Seville?). You do not simply support your futbol team; it is a part of your identity.

In New York, almost anyone you ask (who is originally from New York) will say they support either the Mets or the Yankees. There is no middle ground. Although there are many diehard fans, I think it is safe to say the outcome of the subway series is not as significant as the outcome of the derbi here. (Of course, that is because no matter which team wins, the Yankees will always be a better team).

Here in Sevilla, the choice is Sevilla or Betis. No in between.

The last derbi I went to was at the Sevilla stadium, so I had to go in disguise. Unless you sit in the visiting team section, it may actually be life threatening to wear the wrong color in the wrong section. For example, a Betis fan has to wear a red shirt at Sevilla’s stadium to stay alive. The rivalry is so strong that the fans are not even allowed to enter the stadium through the same section. Before the game, when one team sees the other, the taunting begins. And it doesn’t stop.

in disguise at the first derbi

As an American, growing up with different cultural concepts of what children should be exposed to at what age, I would say this is not a good place to bring a young child. But the Sevillanos seem to take the opposite approach. The sooner they learn the importance of supporting their team, and fighting for what they believe in, the better. There are curses thrown around, middle fingers put up (saw a boy of about 8 do that), I even saw one Betis fan pull his pants down and moon the Sevilla fans after Betis scored a goal. People show their support in all different ways: some by doing the sign of the cross, others by throwing chairs when the opposing team scores a goal, others sing lullabies while rocking their newborns to sleep (again the sooner the better when raising a fan). Not a place a child of mine will be until at least his teenage years. But here, for some, football=life.