Ghost Games: Football Without Fans, With Cardboard Cutouts & Digital Cheers
The No‑Fan Challenge
When Borussia Mönchengladbach faced Cologne in March’s first Bundesliga match sans spectators, even the referee couldn’t hear a single cheer. “Football has lost half its value,” Deniz Aytekin shrugged, shielded from the usual stadium banter. Since then, “closed‑door football” has become the norm until the pandemic’s tide turns.
Creative Fans on Display
- Cardboard Cut‑outs: Clubs scramble to bring fans to the stands by printing fans’ faces on cardboard.
- Price Tag: Borussia sells a “you” cut‑out for €19 (≈$30) and has already received over 12,000 orders.
- Mannequins for Minskergroßben/ Dinamo Brest in Belarus filled entire stands with beach‑time, mannequin‑style supporters.
Noise (or the Lack Thereof) and the Resulting Tempers
Cologne’s coach Markus Gisdol admits the silence can make players and staff a bit more irritable: “You can hear the opposing bench talking, the referees, all that. Fingers get pried.” He also loves the “back‑to‑roots” feel, arguing that players must summon their inner Bundesliga grit without a cheering crowd.
Digital Cheers: Myapplause
Enter hack‑CARE’s Myapplause, a Munich‑based app that turns your sofa into a stadium sound‑board. Fans select a club and match, then press one of four buttons:
- Cheer
- Clap
- Sing
- Whistle
With a capacity of 350,000 users per match, the app streams the aggregated sound to the stadium’s speakers. “One button and the whole place is chattering,” says developer Viktor Mraz. Myapplause hopes to launch across all German giants, even beyond football.
The Governing Body’s Take
The German Football League stays firmly against artificial noise: “Our fans can’t be replaced by any virtual audience,” a league spokesperson told Reuters. Although they can’t force clubs to shun the idea, they urge caution.
In this new era, football’s biggest mystery isn’t the game itself but how to keep the stadium’s heartbeat alive when the fans are ghost‑like. Whether cardboard, apps, or a mix of both will win the day remains an open question—one that will test the creativity of clubs and the passion of fans alike.
