German soccer fans fill empty stadium with cardboard cutouts

Don’t be surprised if these soccer fans look a little board.

Supporters of German club Borussia Mönchengladbach have filled their stadium with thousands of cardboard cut-outs of themselves in the event the sport returns behind closed doors in May, Time reported.

The cutouts, planted in the Borussia-Park stadium seats, cost about $20.60 a pop, and require people to submit a photo wearing their club kits and scarves, said Ingo Müller, a who came up with the idea some three weeks ago while quarantined in his Berlin apartment.

Local print shops are producing the cutouts — a bid at helping keep their businesses afloat, he said.

The club embraced the idea and allowed supporters to enter the 54,000-seat stadium to place some 3,000 cutouts in seats so far, according to Müller.

Rival fans have also placed orders, so that their avatars can boo the home team — in spirit at least, Müller said.

“It’s a good feeling for the players,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s a statement by the fans that they want to be with the team. It’s a statement for us: the fans are part of the game.”