It is a place that breathes the history and passion of Sevilla FC. On the walls, photos of the club’s former glory, current players, victories in the Europa League not to mention a huge painting of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. Around the tables, old fans, all retired, fighting (even arguing) for a game of dominoes.
At the bar, the local manager serves beers while haranguing those who enter this sanctuary without saying hello. Welcome to the Pena Sevillista de Triana, founded in 1958 in this popular area of the city. A place apart where the socios of the Andalusian club meet to talk about football but also and above all to meet.
“It’s a place that creates social ties. We play dominoes, cards, we make meals together, ”explains Antonio Machuca, aged 80, who comes here every day to have breakfast and to remake the world with his friends.
“Everything takes place in bars or penas to see the matches”
As in Triana, there are a hundred Sevilla FC fan penas in the city, in Spain and even the whole world. Each works like an association with its well-defined rules, but all meet each year in a different place for a major annual congress. At Triana, around a hundred pay 9 euros for the annual membership. A ridiculous but symbolic price for all those who love football.
“In Andalusia, we are often outside. And it’s not like in France. Here, people don’t invite each other to watch a game. Everything happens in bars or penas. There are private or public penas. For example, a bar can reserve part of its room for a pena so that members of the public can be sure of having a seat with a TV, ”explains Stéphane Chazelon, a French expatriate in Seville for eight years and a member of Sevilla FC.
On the red plastic chairs, we sleep in, we talk and we moan and we laugh a lot. More than the Champions League match on Tuesday against Lille, it is above all a question of the Sevillian derby to come Sunday against Betis, the hated and very different rival.
“The Betis supporter is more closed but more ardent. The fervor is higher there. Those of Sevilla FC are more demanding, more complaining, ”compares Antonio Machuca. Same story with Stéphane Chazelon. “It’s a very demanding audience. You have to wet the jersey. He can praise a player very easily but also whistle if he does not make the effort. Messi here, supporters would ask him to defend (laughs). “
In the 16th minute, the tribute to Antonio Puerta
Behind Real, Barça and Atletico Madrid, Sevilla FC is one of the big clubs in Spain. If he has only won La Liga once, his six victories in the Europa League (2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020) over the past fifteen years have marked the spirits. Even if his aura is struggling to cross borders to the chagrin of Stéphane Chazelon. “It annoys me when I hear on French channels that Seville is not a big European. As a reminder, French football has won only two European cups in its history while Sevilla has won six Europa League, a cup that no French club has ever won. “
A historic club with its exploits but also its tragedies such as the death of Antonio Puerta in 2007, victim of a cardiac arrest during a Sevilla FC match. Since then, the whole stadium sings his name at every club game when the 16th minute appears, his jersey number. Matches that Antonio Machuca no longer attends. Too stressed, the octogenarian can no longer watch a match live from his club. It is after learning the result that he watches the performance of the Sevillians that he never forgets to record.
Then, he went the next day to the pena where players and even coaches like recently Lopetegui, the current coach, come to play dominoes. Even if traditions are starting to be lost. In Triana, the average age is higher and higher as young people are starting to abandon penas. “Before, penas allowed people to leave their homes. Coming here allowed them to meet people. But the new generation does not care about the social bond now. They prefer to stay on their phones rather than come here, ”tackle Antonio Machuca annoyed.
A change of generation that clearly threatens the disappearance of the pena sevillista de Triana. The next generation is expected to take over from a real cultural, sporting and social heritage of Sevillian life.