AS the release of next season's soccer fixtures stokes up kick-off fever among fans, the anticipation and excitement is ominously clouded here in East Lancashire by the menacing prospect of hooligan violence at the very outset.

For a potentially dangerous clanger has clearly been dropped with the opening day of the season being earmarked for a derby-match game between Burnley and Bolton at the Wanderers' Reebok Stadium while Blackburn Rovers take on Crystal Palace at Ewood Park.

Straight away, this raises the daunting prospect of huge numbers of Burnley fans travelling to the game on trains through Blackburn and having to change trains at the town's central station -- and clashing there with rival Rovers' supporters.

It may be 17 years since Blackburn and Burnley were in the same division but, surely, the Football League cannot be unaware of the deep-seated rivalry that exists between their fans -- and all the potential there is in it for the hooligan element to exploit it with violence. It is hard to understand why the league could not see the makings of trouble in this opening-day fixtures and the prospect of morons turning Blackburn Station into a battleground.

We cannot understand either why Lancashire Police apparently did not foresee this danger and object to the fixtures -- especially when their records include a past case of a Burnley fans' train being ambushed and attacked by hooligan Rovers fans.

And, be sure, this is not a case of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph sensationalising the situation. What we are doing is reporting the genuine fears and concern of decent fans who can and do see the threat of real trouble in these misguided opening-day arrangements.

It is, of course, a pity that football is still sullied by the hooligan menace. But, as the shameful violence involving England fans at Euro 2000 in Belgium has shown only too graphically, it is real -- and dangerous to ignore.

There is, however, a quick and simple solution to the threat of trouble on August 12 between Blackburn and Burnley fans -- that of the getting these fixtures changed.

It can be easily be done -- it happens all the time when games are switched for the TV companies.

And it is now up to both East Lancashire clubs to express their concern and join the worried decent fans in demanding that the danger is defused by these day-one games being re-arranged.