Benito Villamarín Prieto

Benito Villamarín Prieto (1917 – 15 August 1966) was a Spanish industrialist and sports leader who is widely regarded as the most important president in the history of Real Betis, which he presided for a decade, from 1955 until 1965. Under his leadership, the club thrived both on and off the field, returning to the first division in 1958, which marked the end of a 15-year absence, and obtaining the ownership of the Heliopolitan stadium, which now bears his name.

Early life Born in 1917 in Toén, Ourense, Villamarín arrived in Seville after the Spanish Civil War, as a preliminary step to his planned departure to Argentina, where his brothers had already emigrated, but he ended up settling in the city after falling in love with a young woman from Seville named Ángeles Guillén, who he met in Lora del Río, where his uncle Andrés ran an olive warehouse.

Presidency of Real Betis First years and promotion Villamarín was introduced to Real Betis by some of his friends and partners, such as Ricardo de la Serna Luque, who was also a pioneer in the export of table olives to the United States, and two men from the military, Lieutenant Colonel Diego Vigueras Murube, a close friend from his years in Lora del Río, and the former Betis president Francisco de la Cerda, who saw in Villamarín as the ideal future president, not only because he already had a considerable fortune, but also because he was energetic, bold, and ambitious.

Villamarín stadium A few months later, on 10 September 1958, Betis faced their city rivals Sevilla FC for the first time in years, which was also the first official match in the recently inaugurated Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium; Betis won 4–2. Just like Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, Villamarín also deeply desired to provide his club with their own modern facilities, but unlike Sevilla, Betis could neither afford to build a new stadium nor did Villamarín consider it wise to undertake such a high-profile operation, so he simply decided to take over the Heliopolitan stadium, which had been rented to Betis by the Seville City Council for a symbolic amount since 16 July 1936, two days before the outbreak of the Civil War.

Like all municipal property that is to be sold, the Heliopolis stadium had to be put up for public auction, but with the help of the councilor Alfonso Jaramillo González, Villamarín managed to publish a rule that stated that the only clubs who could opt for the purchase are those from La Liga who do not yet have their own stadium, thus making it impossible for any club other than Betis to have an option to buy.

On 25 October 2017, the city council of Lora del Río officially inaugurated a Plaza named after him.