Wolves - obvious
Bolton - former brother in law
Stoke - horrible people
Rotherham - cheering our relegation
Wrexham are getting there
Wigan - tinpot club we never beat
MK Dongs - also obvious
Salford - Sunday league team made good by goblins
Think to a certain extent it depends on age. I despise the Dingles, but then again so do most sane people. I’ve never really considered them as “football rivals” cos they obviously not bothered about us (until we beat them… time after time…). I don’t like Vile, I don’t like Liverpool FC, don’t like Sjoke. I would put MK Dongs in a separate category of dislike all of their own. Salford are vile.
Hatred is obviously a big word, but in football terms I grew up “hating” Vale and Shrewsbury. And they remain the top 2 in my list
Villa all day long , still living off the back of the early 80’s, plus I got tons of shit at school being the only Walsall fan amongst them all.
Must add Wolves , Vale and Salford to that list
Villa - Easily top of my list. I grew up in Pelsall and most of the kids at my school were Villa ‘fans’ had plenty of scraps on Pelsall Common, fighting a lone battle. Meant to be a massive club and apparently have 20k on the season ticket waiting list. Not so long back they closed part of the Whitton end.
Wolves - Couldn’t find a Wolves fan in the mid 80s, now they get where water can’t get.
Albion - Never used to mind them, in fact, if Walsall didn’t have a game me and my Dad used to go to Albion for a game to watch. Over time things change. When they decided it was fun to come to Walsall smashing the town up and going around in groups picking out Walsall individuals to kick in. Also, some of my wife’s family support them as did she when I met her. She once said to me “If we have any kids they will support Albion” How’s that one working out? To be fair she soon got hooked on following Walsall too after a few away games.
Port Vale - Earliest rivalry I can remember. Was always feisty. Over the years we have definitely had the better of them though!
MK Dons. Not sure if they count as a real club, but I don’t think it needs any explanation.
Crewe- Not really sure why, they have always just annoyed me and I am still scarred from the 5-1 play off defeat.
I’ll go against the grain of most English football fans to say I actually like Man United. Living in Belgium for 15 years 1990-2005 and knowing loads of Belgian and Dutch football fans I got sick to death of them moaning at me about Heysel (don’t get me wrong, a tragedy) and English this and English that. At the time Man United were beating all comers when they played Dutch or Belgian teams. So when they beat Belgian or Dutch teams (again) it made me smile
MK Dongs - it should never have been allowed Salford - another pretend club adored by the media Forest Green - another, as above. I’m not sure what it is about them that the BBC so like and gets them on screen so much
oh! And West Ham, for no particular reason.