Football fan Jody Brown needed 25 stitches after an attack triggered by a fan swearing at a referee.

Arsenal supporter Jody, 22, an engineer, was watching his team play Manchester United on TV in a pub when another fan shouted an obscenity at the referee.

A man near the TV at the time assumed the insult was aimed at him and grabbed the fan by the throat.

Jody intervened and tried to explain.

The two ended up outside the Hobgoblin pub in York Place, Brighton, where the man's brother grabbed Jody from behind.

He swung Jody round, pushing his arm through the pub window.

Jody, who lives with his partner in the city centre, needed 25 stitches to a 6in arm wound that penetrated to the bone.

He said: "Hurling abuse at referees while watching football in pubs happens a lot and no one ever takes any notice.

"I tried to explain to this bloke the abuse wasn't aimed at him and tried to calm everything down and reason with him. But he wasn't having it.

"I grabbed his wrists to prevent any further violence to the other man and he backed us outside through the fire exit."

Jody got some consolation when his team won 3-1 but he did not see much of the match, spending the rest of the afternoon at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

The offender and his brother fled.

Police are looking for a man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 5ft 6in tall with fair, close-shaved hair.

Anyone with information should call Detective Constable Barrie Southerden on 0845 6070999.