In attempts to right their wrongs, a set of Nottingham Forest supporters are set to show up at Anfield with a 30ft banner that will honor the deceased from the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989.
Ahead of Nottingham’s trip to Anfield for the league showdown versus Liverpool, pictures of a massive banner that reads “Respect the 97” were shared online. The banner features Forest’s club logo in one corner and the Hillsborough memorial symbol in the other, along with the words, “Solidarity with Survivors. No to Tragedy Chanting.”
This comes after a spike in abuses aimed towards Liverpool fans in recent months, an offense which the Nottingham fans themselves are guilty of.
What Transpired Previously?
Nottingham Forest fans came under heavy scrutiny for singing offensive chants against Liverpool earlier this season.
When The Reds made their trip to City Ground for their away fixture against the freshly promoted Nottingham, they were met with some extremely offensive chants associated with the Hillsborough disaster, which caused the death of 97 Liverpool supporters back in 1989.
A section of Forest fans was heard singing the ‘Always the victim’ chant more than three times over the course of 90 minutes of the matchup that the hosts ended up winning.
Fast forward to six months from October, the Scabs are set to show up at Anfield with the giant banner, showing their solidarity towards the victims of the 1989 FA Cup disaster.
Liverpool have gone through similar abuse aimed towards the disaster of 1989 multiple times this season. Both Manchester City and Chelsea had to publicly condemn the action of their respective supporters after the latter hurled similar chants at The Reds.
Amid all the negativity, a move like this by the Nottingham supporters away from home came up as a pleasant surprise among the Liverpool fans, who have been vocal about their delight at the Forest fans’ solidarity ahead of their league fixture.
Earlier, Arsenal fans were praised by Jurgen Klopp for their “most respectful” minute’s silence before their game at Anfield. “It was really obvious how the Arsenal supporters [showed respect] at that moment, it was really touching” said the Liverpool boss following the 2-2 draw.