No one likes us, we don't care

"No one likes us, we don't care" is a football chant which originated with the supporters of Millwall Football Club in the late seventies. The chant is to the tune of (We Are) Sailing by Rod Stewart.^[1]

The song was originally sung by Millwall fans in response to the sustained criticism of their behaviour by the press and the image of many Millwall fans as hooligans, perpetuated by certain sections of the media in general. The song reached a world wide audience when Millwall reached the FA Cup Final in 2004.

Many other football clubs in the UK have hooligans, but various commentators including Danny Baker, a well-known Millwall supporter, and Rod Liddle have questioned why Millwall's have consistently been singled out to the point where the name of Millwall has become synonymous with hooliganism, creating a siege mentality amongst the ordinary, law abiding Millwall fans. In his book The Soccer Tribe, Desmond Morris uses Millwall as the only example in the section dealing with the problem of football violence: "At Millwall they are known as 'F-Troup', these are the real nutters, the ones who go over the top. It is not uncommon for a dozen of them to attack almost a thousand opposition supporters."

Southwark-born writer and journalist Michael Collins, believes that it is due to what he terms the demonisation of the white working classes, and that as Millwall's support has always been drawn from this group, they present an easy target for the press and media alike. Collins writes: "At the end of the 19th century around the time Millwall F.C. was formed, middle class journalists used to descend on the area like Baudelaireian flaneurs, to report on the urban working class as though they were discovering natives from the remote islands of the Empire."

Supporters of other clubs, social groups and members of professions who perceive themselves as not being liked for various reasons, have used variations of the chant.^[2][3][4] Rangers supporters sing a version of the song with the lyrics changed to reflect a bitter rivalry with Celtic F.C.^[5] however, this version contains lyrics which have been condemned as sectarian.^[6] MK Dons, Crawley Town, Shamrock Rovers, Seattle Sounders and Raith Rovers supporters have also adopted it.^[7][8]

Lyrics

No one likes us, no one likes us
No one likes us, we don't care!

We are Millwall, super Millwall
We are Millwall from The Den!

Notes and references

1. ^ pr: Norma Spence (1989). No One Likes Us - We Don't Care (VHS). Working Pictures (Millwall) Ltd for Channel 4. 
2. ^ Buckley, Martin (2006-04-06). "No one likes us, we don't care...". Channel4.com. Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/4car/ft/feature/feature/181/1. Retrieved 2007-07-05. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "No one likes us and we don't care – or do we?". Kudocities. June 2007. http://kudocities.com/cities/london/conversations/no-one-likes-us-and-we-don-t-care-or-do-we. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
4. ^ Mueller, Andrew (1995-03-11). "No One Likes Us, We Don't Care". Melody Maker. http://pweination.org/info/media/features/pewimed1.html. Retrieved 2007-07-05. 
5. ^ http://www.lyricsondemand.com/miscellaneouslyrics/soccerlyrics/glasgowrangerslyrics.html
6. ^ http://www.arabtrust.co.uk/current/?502-sectarian-chanting
7. ^ http://www.fanchants.com/football-songs/mk-dons-chants/no-one-likes-us/
8. ^ http://terracechants.me.uk/chant/4447

• Collins, Michael (2004). The Likes Of Us, A Biography of the White Working Class. Granta. ISBN 1-86207-600-6. 
• Morris, Desmond (1981). The Soccer Tribe. Johnathan Cape. ISBN 978-1-904435-54-9. 

External links

• The Beginning of No One Likes Us
• A city above suspicion: Rod Liddle