A BIT of harmless fun or needlessly provocative?

Blackburn Rovers have brought out a controversial new T-shirt ahead of the eagerly-anticipated derby clash with Burnley on October 18 which boasts about the club’s 5-0 victory in April 2001.

Rovers bosses said the merchandise was meant to be a ‘celebrate a landmark victory over our local rivals and nothing more’.

Fans of the club agreed and said it was ‘harmless fun’, but supporters of the Clarets said it was ‘provoking emotions’ before an already tense match.

The T-shirt is being sold alongside a DVD called Bring On The Clarets, as part of a range called “get ready for the Clarets”.

Blackburn Rovers said hundreds of the designs have been sold since hitting the shops.

The town centre store in The Mall shopping centre had to order extra stock after selling out over the weekend.

A spokesman for Blackburn Rovers said: “It is never the intention to be provocative or cause offence, quite the opposite.

“This T-shirt, as with many other items of merchandising down the years, is meant to be a celebration for Rovers fans for a landmark victory over our rivals and nothing more.”

Clarets fan Baz McCue said: “I know for a fact any Rovers fan that we see wearing that is going to get some real stick.

“If we win I hope Blackburn produce more T-shirts like that. They’ll look stupid.”

Three thousand Clarets fans will be travelling to the game and will be seated across two tiers in the WEC Darwen End.

The kick-off has been moved to 1pm and Clarets fans will only be allowed in to the stadium if they are on an official coach from Turf Moor.

Burnley FC and the police said they did not want to comment on the new T-shirts.

>> ROVERS FANS HAVE THEIR SAY

Nathan Bennison, 19, of Buncer Lane. “I am going to get one of them. It is a really good idea but there’s every chance that something like this could tip the atmosphere over the edge.”

Micky Carlisle, 18, of Darwen. “I won’t be going to the game because there is bound to be a lot of problems. It has been bad in the past and I think this match is going to be even worse.”

Stephen Duckworth, 19, of Mill Hill. “The T-shirt is a bit of harmless fun and we are going to win anyway. It should be a great atmosphere and the T-shirt is just a part of the banter.”

Samantha James, 17, of Rishton. “The game will be alright and I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Everyone needs to relax. I’ve got a season ticket and am not worried about going.”

Stephen Porter, 19, of Cherry Tree. “There is definitely going to be some naughtiness at the match but the T-shirt won’t make any difference. I think I might get one – it looks great.”

Kevin Prince, 63, of Brownhill. “The atmosphere at Ewood is going to be tasty anyway so I don’t see the problem with the T-shirt. You are going to get idiots at any derby match trying to cause problems.”

>> CLARETS FANS HAVE THEIR SAY

Ashton Whellans, 19, Burnley Wood. “I can’t believe that they are doing that. They’ll regret it after the match. It’s already going to be a hostile atmosphere and stunts like this won’t help. Hopefully they don’t sell them in children’s sizes – that would be wrong.”

Kevan Boyle, 63, Briercliffe Road. “I have been to so many derby matches and the atmosphere is always electric. This year there will be a real edge and that T-shirt is very provocative. People don’t need much of an excuse to cause trouble and this may be just that excuse.”

Rocky Mills, 66, Barden Lane. “I think Blackburn are making trouble. It’s the biggest match we’ve had for ages and it doesn’t need any extra problems like this. I just want it to be a good game and to forget all of the off-the-field problems.”

Josh Stevenson, 17, Padiham Road. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. We are a better team than them and I don’t want us to be dragged into this sort of thing. I think there could be problems but a T-shirt will not make much difference.”

Michael O’Reilly, 16, Ightenhill. “I know that there is probably going to be some fighting at some point. That T-shirt is saying ‘we are going to beat you again’ which I think is very controversial. It is a bit of banter but it could cause trouble.”

Daniel Harvey, 16, Harle Syke. “Everyone has been looking forward to the game but I think it’s stupid to start bragging about a a game that happened over eight years ago. Let’s see how this one turns out Things are very different now.”