TWO fans banned from football matches failed to sign on at the police station during the World Cup, a court heard.

Norman ‘Knuckles’ Jones, 60, admitted failing to comply with his order, but claimed police had told him he did not need to report at the station. He is subject to a suspended jail term.

Justices told the defendant who, police say, likes to boast he was an original member of the Burnley Suicide Squad, no harm was caused.

Jones, of Williams Road, Burnley, who was wearing an England kit, was given a six-month conditional discharge.

The chairman told him: “It doesn't matter what the police tell you. If England are going to play, turn up.”

Paul Anthony Wilkinson, 40, made a separate appearance and admitted flouting his banning order. The defendant, of Lawrence Street, Padiham, claimed he had forgotten to sign on at the station. Wilkinson, who had breached his order twice before, was fined £100, with a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs.