Postcards from the edge: Snapshots of European football's return

From plastic fans in Poland, to virtual fans in Denmark, drive-in spectators in the Czech Republic and a title coronation in Serbia, AFP takes a look at a weekend of football in times of the coronavirus.

Fans return in Hungary

Forgotten sounds resonated in grounds across Hungary this weekend as songs, the beating of drums and the sense of excitement which spreads throughout the crowd when the ball nears the goal all returned for the first time since March.

After two months without spectators, sports venues reopened their doors to the public this weekend in Hungary, the first country to welcome supporters back to the stands, on the condition that every other row is left empty and only one in four seats is occupied.

"We will respect the rules because there could be games behind closed doors again if we mess up," said Richard Kovacs, 36, one of the 2,255 fans at Diosgyor's match against Mezokovesd.

"All that worries us is knowing if we're going to win or lose, not the epidemic," said Gabor Lengyel, 41, suggesting that football, and by extension life for some, is approaching a return to normal.

Poland home to plastic supporters

Poland will follow Hungary's lead with fans able to attend matches from June 19, although stadiums will be limited to a quarter of capacity.

In the meantime, the league restarted on Friday behind closed doors with noisy, hardcore Polish fans forced to adapt. Supporters of Pogon Szczecin arranged a guard of honour, holding aloft flares every 10 metres on the road leading to the stadium.

Lechia Gdansk relied on some private support on Sunday against Arka Gdynia, with photos of some 200 fans printed onto plastic backgrounds and placed in the stands.

The photos cost 75 zlotys (17 euros, $19) and will eventually be returned to fans taking part in the initiative once signed by their favourite player.

Czech drive-in cinemas

The second weekend of the Czech league since the season's resumption saw defending champions and leaders Slavia Plague thrash Jablonec 5-0 at an empty Eden Arena on Saturday.

However, it wasn't totally deserted as the club placed 1,000 plastic photos of players in the stands while giving fans the chance to do likewise for roughly 500 koruna (19 euros, $20), half of which will go to Slavia's youth teams. Around 500 'fans' made it for kick-off.

To liven up the eerie atmosphere, Sparta Prague and Viktoria Plzen are pumping out team songs during their games. For Wednesday's meeting between the two they set up drive-in cinemas in both Prague and Plzen.

"We weren't able to go to the stadium because of the situation. I saw about this opportunity on social media so my friend and I bought tickets and came. It's very different, we're not really screaming and we miss the stadium, it's impossible to replace," Sparta fan Petr Svoboda, who watched the 2-1 loss to Plzen, told AFP.

Stankovic's Red Star champions in Serbia

Despite their reputation and the clinching of a title -- the first in Europe since football's return -- typically boisterous Serbian supporters remained calm as the league resumed Friday behind closed doors.

Rad Belgrade hosted city rivals Red Star in the biggest match, where a 5-0 victory for the visitors secured them a 31st league title.

Anyone expecting a sea of supporters flocking to the streets to celebrate was disappointed. Only a hundred or so hardcore fans gathered outside Red Star's ground to toast the newly-crowned champions while mobbing the club's coach, former Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic, outside the Marakana.

Virtual supporters in Denmark

After a near three-month hiatus, the Danish league returned Thursday as AGF took on Randers in Aarhus in a 1-1 draw behind closed doors.

On the eve of the match the Aarhus club had invited eager fans to stick banners, flags and other cardboard cut-outs in the stands, far from the usual ambiance expected for a clash between two Jutland rivals.

Aarhus supporter Liva Hansen, 28, followed the match on TV and via popular videoconferencing platform Zoom along with a group of friends.

All five were part of a virtual audience of 30,000 people, whose images were beamed onto giant screens around the pitch. 

"No doubt, that helped," Aarhus coach David Nielsen told Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet. "It created a little alternative atmosphere, specific to 2020."

"It's a good solution but obviously I would have preferred to be in the stands," said Hansen. "It was nice to be able to see the other fans and their reactions, during the good moments but also during the less good!"