Is your local football stadium having a hard time filling its seats in this difficult economic period?

Perhaps the owners could copy the Triestina team, whose owner, Stefano Fantinel, has had cardboard replicas of fans made to fill the 30,000 capacity Stadeo Nereo Rocco.

At the Serie B side’s home game against Pescara on September 5th the cardboard fans, seated in an area of the stadium which has been closed to the public in order to save money, outnumbered the 3,810 paying fans in the stadium. The replicas were made from photographs taken of fans in the stadium the last time it was full, four years ago.

Mr Fantinel, who came up with the idea in partnership with the communications company Gsport, says that the replicas are pleasing to the eye and that all his colleagues in the football world have congratulated him on his initiative.
He added that the club is working to fill the seats with real fans and their families once again.