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Club History
The Rojiblancos of Seville celebrated their first ever European trophy last season by defeating Middlesbrough to lift the UEFA Cup. They soon doubled that tally with the European Super Cup after an impressive 3-0 win over Champions League winners Barcelona in Monaco.

From Local Roots

Andalucia was a pioneering place in the history of Spanish football, Spain's oldest extant club, Recreativo de Huelva, hailing from nearby. Seville, though, wasn't to play host to the community's second club until 1905.

In that year, by order of the city, Sevilla FC was founded, although it wasn't to face Recreativo (or indeed any other side) for a further three years.

The bulk of the club's early history, then, was local, with Seville Cups and local tournaments dominating the agenda. In 1935, though, Sevilla won their first national competition, defeating Sabadell in the Copa del Rey.

The civil war and Second World War obviously disrupted the footballing setup, but Sevilla continued as a club and, indeed, won their first (and to date only) Liga title in 1946.

Mid-Table Era

That was to be their crowning achievement for some time to come. The club enjoyed highs and lows - a particular highlight being the 1958 construction of the 45,000-seater Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, a real fortress for both the rojiblancos and the national team - but never quite hit those heights again.

Indeed, city rivals Real Betis had by this time eclipsed their more senior city cousins and, by the 1960s and 70s, Sevilla were bouncing around between the Primera Liga and the second tier of the national championship. Above all, there was no silverware.

Betis, meanwhile, picked up a Copa del Rey win in 1977, further forcing a fiercely proud Sevilla side to buck up its act; the Seville derby, after all, is perhaps the fiercest intra-city matchup in Spanish football.

There were some good times, Sevilla enjoying a decent UEFA Cup run in the early 1980s, but all too often they failed to deliver, despite building up the enviable record of being the only Spanish side never to lose at home in Europe - one that stands to this day.

Still, as late as 2000, Sevilla were relegated yet again, only to bounce back up under Joaquin Caparros. Then began a quite remarkable turnaround in their fortunes.

The Nervion youth system began to churn out some fine talent - Jose Antonio Reyes, for one, Jesus Navas a few years later - and silverware became a realistic goal once again. What's more, the rojiblancos have not finished outside the top half since returning to the Primera.

And by 2004, they were back in Europe, only to fall at the Last 16 of the UEFA Cup. One season later, though, they finally went all the way, lifting their first ever European trophy after thrashing Middlesbrough in the final. Months later, they similarly humiliated Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup.

Now, if not before, Sevilla were a force to be reckoned with, and had their eyes on more silverware. Eventually, after a bizarre start to 2006/2007, which saw the club blanked from broadcasting view over a TV rights dispute, fans around the world were once again enjoy a team that had grown considerably in recent seasons to become serious contenders for the championship.

Indeed, going into Round 38 in La Liga that season, Juande Ramos' men were still in with a shot at the title, only for Real Madrid to lift he trophy. Sevilla, however, had the consolation of yet another fine UEFA Cup Final win, this time beating countrymen Espanyol in Glasgow a month prior.

That near-miss in the Liga brought Champions League football to Nervion for the first time, with Sevilla having a mixed time of it thus far in Europe's premier competition. What's more, the domestic campaign started in none-too-impressive fashion, too, although the side was rocked by the tragic death of Antonio Puerta, the left-sided maestro, at the age of just 22.

Sevilla's side has since broken up, with Luis Fabiano, Dani Alves, Seydou Keita, Adriano and Diego Capel all having left the club, along with Ramos, who departed to join Tottenham as coach in 2008 but lasted just a year at White Hart Lane.

The Andalusians did add another Copa del Rey in 2010, but failed to make the Champions League after losing a qualifier against Braga and had to settle for Europa League football in 2011 as well, having finished outside the top four.