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Cardboard fans and drive-ins: How football might look behind closed doors

Manchester City celebrate winning the 2018-19 Premier League titleImage source, Getty Images
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The Premier League... do you remember it?

Premier League clubs have met to discuss restarting the 2019-20 season.

The season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, but clubs announced that they had talked with the government about the first steps to getting the season going again.

The league did warn, however, that it, "will only return to training and playing with government guidance, under expert medical advice and after consultation with players and managers."

It is widely expected that when games do eventually restart, they will be played behind closed doors with no fans.

So football clubs around the world are having to come up with new ways to create an atmosphere during games.

Have a look and then tell us your ideas in the comments below!

The cheering app

Image source, Getty Images

With Japan's football league about the restart, fans are looking for a way to support their team from home, and avoid the awkward silence of an empty stadium.

The Remote Cheerer system, invented by Yamaha, allows fans watching the match from home to boo or cheer using their smartphones.

Their voices will then be played live around the stadium via loudspeakers.

The app was recently tested at the 50,000-seat Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa using 58 speakers dotted around the empty seats.

"Users were able to gain a sense of being present at the venue, even though it's a massive stadium," Yamaha said.

"Fans are an essential element of the match atmosphere," said Jumpei Takaki from S-Pulse. "As a former professional footballer, I know how encouraging their support is to the players on the field."

Life-size cardboard cut-outs

Image source, Christian Verheyen
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Pictures of fans, players, coaches and staff of Bundesliga club Borussia Moenchengladbach will be put in the empty seats at Borussia-Park stadium

Over in Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, one team will have cardboard cut-outs of actual fans in the stands to support them when their season restarts.

Borussia Mönchengladbach are giving their supporters a chance to buy a cardboard figure with their face on for €19 (£16.67).

So you could be at home watching a match, and see yourself in the crowd!

CGI fans and recorded crowd noise

Image source, ALLSPORT/Getty Images
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Liverpool are currently at the top of the Premier League table but fans won't be able to watch games in their stadium for a while

Empty stands will be hard not to notice when games are played behind closed doors.

So, there have been rumours that broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport could use computer generated images (CGI) crowds during their coverage to cover them up.

Sky will also give TV viewers the option to listen to pre-recorded crowd noise if they hit the red button.

Viewing parties

Image source, Reuters
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Programmes could be made available to download for fans to buy at home to help maintain a normal match-day experience

Premier League clubs have already been putting on viewing parties online during lockdown, where fans can gather together and watch classic matches all at the same time.

So this is one idea for clubs to keep using if the season gets going again, since they have proven to be popular.

Football drive-in

Image source, FC Midtjylland / Twitter
Image caption,

FC Midtjylland are planning drive-in idea for when football returns

In Denmark, FC Midtjylland have installed giant screens in their stadium's car park for fans to come and watch games from their cars.

Midtjylland are going to provide more than 2,000 spaces for fans to listen to a commentary through their car radios to help boost the whole game-day experience.

However, this idea might not be one we see in the Premier League any time soon with strict social distancing rules and a ban on mass gatherings still in place in the UK.

What do you think of these idea? How would you help boost the atmosphere during closed games? Let us know in the comments below.