SIX-year bans have been handed out to two Blackburn Rovers fans for provoking serious trouble during an away match last year.

Francis Brown, 48, and Frankie Brown, 22, were also jailed for four months following the outbreak of violence at the Stoke City game on September 22.

The Browns were arrested after the younger man threw a punch and disorder then broke out across a section of the bet365 stadium where they were both sitting.

Prosecutors told North Stafford Magistrates Court that CCTV footage captured the wide-scale disturbance which then ensued.

Innocent bystanders were seen to fall as the trouble spread, the court heard.

Francis Brown, of Springbank Terrace, and Frankie Brown, of Bolton Road, both Blackburn, had each pleaded guilty to an offence of using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause or provoke unlawful violence, during a brief hearing before the court in January.

Under the terms of the order, they will be unable to follow Rovers home or away until the 2025-26 season and will also face restrictions when it comes to England international fixtures.

The pair were sentenced on Thursday after magistrates had considered pre-sentence reports.

The defendants were also required to pay £115 victim surcharges but no costs or compensation were ordered due to the custodial sentences imposed.

Rovers won the fixture 3-2 - they had been 3-0 up thanks to goals by Bradley Dack, Danny Graham and Harrison Reed.

Last season Rovers fans racked up 17 football-related arrests, though this was a long way behind the division’s front-runners, Portsmouth, on 59.

According to the last figures, released in November, there were nine football banning orders for Blackburn supporters.

Earlier this week Luke Smith, 18, of Haslingden Road, Blackburn, was given a three-year ban after he threw a plastic bottle into an area occupied by away fans when Aston Villa visited Ewood last September.

Blackburn Rovers were asked for a comment on the Browns' banning orders last night.