Fears of violence greet return of English football season

London: Authorities are eyeing the start of the English football season this weekend with trepidation, following riots which have rocked towns and cit...

London: Authorities are eyeing the start of the English football season this weekend with trepidation, following riots which have rocked towns and cities across the country.

Dozens of teams in the English Football League -- below the high-profile Premier League -- start playing their first games from Saturday afternoon, including in cities that have seen disorder.

The unrest followed a knife attack that killed three children. But officials have blamed far-right elements -- some with links to England's decades-old football hooligan scene -- for orchestrating the violence which saw mosques and immigration-linked sites torched and police targeted.

Tommy Robinson, a notorious anti-Muslim agitator with a string of criminal convictions including for football-related offences, has been accused of helping to fuel the unrest through constant social media posts about the events.

Crowds at some gatherings were heard chanting his name -- which is actually a pseudonym borrowed from an infamous Luton Town Football Club hooligan in the 2000s.