The return of Bundesliga next month is an exciting news for fans, but they are not allowed to attend any matches as mass gathering ban is still in place. So Borussia Mönchengladbach fans decided to create 8,000 cardboard cut-outs of themselves to help fill Borussia-Park during the game.
This is an initiative from Gladbach fans called ‘Stay at home. Be in the stands’ campaign. Their team have the fifth-biggest stadium in the German top-flight with 54,014 capacity, but fans have been unable to attend any game since COVID-19 outbreak.
It comes after the league decided to resume in May, but they will be no more than 213 people in a stadium during the game, including players and non-playing staff.
“The campaign organisers are regularly overrun with orders; we can hardly keep up trying to install them all,” explained Gladbach fan representative Thomas Weinmann.
“But we’re obviously delighted with the overwhelming support it’s received.”
Fans who bought it paid for €19.00, and their cardboard will be installed in the stands, while the money will be donated to local charities.
Gladbach players, coaches and board members had previously agreed to forgo their salaries in order to help the club and its employees.
Fans can contribute to the latest campaign by uploading their photo to www.seidabei-trotzdem.de.