More Barrow fans were banned from the ground than almost any other team in last season's National League, figures show.

Disorder was on the rise across the top five divisions before coronavirus restrictions forced cancelled matches and games behind closed doors.

Banning orders are issued following a conviction for a football-related offence, and prevent that individual attending all regulated matches in the UK.

Home Office figures show eight were in place against Barrow supporters as of August 1. This was one of the highest of the 24 clubs in last season's national division of the National League, behind Chesterfield's 14.

A spokesman for the club said: "We work closely with the police to ensure any disorder is dealt with seriously, and this should serve as a reminder that anybody causing trouble at games will no longer be welcome."

The UK’s football police chief, deputy chief constable Mark Roberts, said police normally see more incidents as seasons end, when titles and relegation battles are decided. He said: "What we can see is that prior to the restrictions from Covid-19, there was already an increase in the levels of disorder at fixtures.

“In the previous season, there were incidents reported at 33% of 3,022 fixtures, and for the 2019-20 season, there were incidents reported at 36% of the 2,663 regulated fixtures.

“Significantly, the number of assaults against stadium staff and police officers are worryingly close to what we saw from a full season in 2018-19.”

The figures also showed arrests for racist and indecent chanting across the top five divisions more than doubled last season compared to the campaign before.

No Barrow supporters were arrested for racist and indecent chanting in 2019-20, nor in any of the previous five seasons.