One of the things about Liverpool supporters that I’m most proud of is that, generally speaking, we’re always far more interested in singing songs about our own club and players than we are in singing about the opposition. There are obviously exceptions to this, of course, such as when a member of the opposition has played for Everton in the past and can be referred to rather gleefully as ‘blue and white sh*te’.
This song is also an exception to the rule, borne out of the fact that Nottingham Forest genuinely were one of our biggest rivals during the 1980s, when Brian Clough briefly turned them into the best team in the world.
Attacking Our Rivals
The reality of the matter is that Liverpool’s main rivals will always be Everton first and foremost and then Manchester United. In more recent years, the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and even Arsenal have been on the list because they have been the ones that we’ve been going up against on a regular basis as we’ve tried to win the biggest prizes in the game, but it is the big two that have taken centre stage.
When this song first started being sung by the Kop, however, it was Nottingham Forest that were stopping us from winning leagues and European Cups every single season, so they became the subject of the Kop’s ire.
Just because we wanted to sing about that club didn’t mean that there wasn’t room for a sly did or two at our other rivals, however. Not only that, but the song ultimately manages to be about the main thing that counts the most in the eyes of supporters, which is our love of the team that plays in Red. In spite of the fact that Forest are not really our rivals anymore, this song still gets brought out every now and then, usually when we’re playing one of the teams mentioned in it. Here are the lyrics:
We hate Nottingham Forest.
We hate Everton too
(They’re sh*t!)
We hate Man United,
But Liverpool we love you!
All together now!
We hate Nottingham Forest.
We hate Everton too
(They’re sh*t!)
We hate Man United,
But Liverpool we love you!
