Nottingham Forest fans slammed for singing 'always the victims' chant against Liverpool

Nottingham Forest supporters have been strongly criticised after singing offensive chants against Liverpool in Saturday's Premier League clash at the City Ground.

Forest fans could be heard singing the phrase "always the victims" early on in the match.

The chant is strongly associated with the Hillsborough disaster, which caused the death of 97 Liverpool supporters.

The fatal crush occurred in a 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Forest and Liverpool at the home of Sheffield Wednesday.

Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle reported that Forest fans began singing the offensive "victims" chant early in the game.

""Always the victims" is the shout from a group of Forest fans. Some were already singing "Sign on" before the game had even started," tweeted Doyle.

Meanwhile, The Athletic's James Pearce reported that the home fans continued the chant throughout the first half.

"'Always the victims' for the third time from the Forest fans," tweeted Pearce.

Liverpool supporters have slammed the home supporters for their behaviour, particularly given Forest's association with the Hillsborough disaster.

"Forest fans singing the Hillsborough chants is also extremely weird because it literally could have been them," tweeted one fan.

Another added: "Nottingham Forest fans, who fortunately for them had the opposite end at Hillsborough in 1989, showing all their self-awareness there. Grim."

While a third wrote: "Of all the fans of all the clubs, astonishing to hear Nottingham Forest sing songs about Hillsborough. Shame on them."

It is the second time in a week that opposition fans have been accused of singing offensive chants about Liverpool.

The Merseyside club accused Manchester City supporters of singing "vile" chants in Sunday's Premier League clash at Anfield, with Liverpool fans also accused of throwing coins at City boss Pep Guardiola during the match.

It later emerged that graffiti referencing the number of deaths at the Hillsborough and Heysel disasters was found in the away end after the match.

The chants were heard in Sunday's Premier League match at the City Ground (Image: Alamy)

"We are deeply disappointed to hear vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies from the away section during today's game at Anfield," read a club statement.

"The concourse in the away section was also vandalised with graffiti of a similar nature. We know the impact such behaviour has on the families, survivors and all those associated with such disasters.

"We are working with the relevant authorities and we will also work with Manchester City in order to do our utmost to ensure these chants are eradicated from football altogether."

Guardiola later apologised for the behaviour of the visiting supporters.

"I didn't hear the chant," Guardiola said.

"If it's happened I'm so sorry – it doesn't represent what we are as a team and a club. But don't worry, we can behave perfectly [from] our mistakes. Not a problem."