The days of the Liverpool Forest rivalry are long gone but the bitter memories remain for many of us a a bit longer in the tooth. You still get the sense that some of the old Liverpool pundits have a special place in hell for us such as Phil Thompson, Graeme Souness.... we did after all knock them off their perch. Not only were they dominent in England but also in Europe and we took both of their crowns. They didnt like it, they didnt like it at all. The hatred wasnt a one way street mind, we had players who could handle their on field enforcers in Larry Lloyd and Kenny Burns. Not only were Larry and Kenny brilliant in the positions they played but they gave out retribution when necessary and Cloughie though preaching a pure game knew full well that it was necessary to respond to the likes of Souness, Thompson, McDermott, et al... they could kick from 1 to 11 when the mood took them. And of course, they knew how to moan back then even placid Bob Paisley would take to the press to claim Dalglish would have to be mugged before he would get a decision in his favour. Yes, even back then the whinging scousers would try to influence the authorities in their favour. The intense rivalry spilled over onto the terraces too. Fixtures against them had an all day alert as they would arrive in the city in numbers sometimes soon after midday even for evening kick off's and they soon found they would have greeting party's awaiting. Im told that the local greeting partys even took the game to Liverpool on one particular occassion.....not for the feint hearted, Liverpool can be a daunting place to go if you have that sort of activity in mind. But aparently the good performances were not limited to on the field of play.
These days, Liverpool Football Club are an infinantly more likeable club with the media darling Jeurgen Klopp even encouraged by slime ball Lineker to use the 'F' word albeit after the watershed. But when I speak to my fellow Forest fans, even generations later, there's a hatred still smouldering inside for them. So much so that they would rather the Spanish win than see an 'Énglish' club progress. Im surprised. I dont particularly like Liverpool purely because of those distant days but time has mellowed me and I openly wish for English club success in Europe over petty local jealousy or rivalry. Fortunately, thats never been tested on a very local basis, Derby in Europe might break the mould where Im concerned.
These days, Liverpool Football Club are an infinantly more likeable club with the media darling Jeurgen Klopp even encouraged by slime ball Lineker to use the 'F' word albeit after the watershed. But when I speak to my fellow Forest fans, even generations later, there's a hatred still smouldering inside for them. So much so that they would rather the Spanish win than see an 'Énglish' club progress. Im surprised. I dont particularly like Liverpool purely because of those distant days but time has mellowed me and I openly wish for English club success in Europe over petty local jealousy or rivalry. Fortunately, thats never been tested on a very local basis, Derby in Europe might break the mould where Im concerned.
