J-League Division 1 side Omiya Ardija using card-board fans to boost team morale

Omiya Ardija have been using cardboard fans to make their crowds look bigger. Source : @spulseukultras on Twitter

Away support is a problem for a large number of Football clubs and Japan’s J-League is no different.

So when J-League Division 1 Omiya Ardija traveled the 300 odd miles to Tokushima Vortis for a J-League Cup qualification match, their away support was hardly anything to write home about. The fact that this was a midweek game didn’t help numbers.

But the fans who made the journey made sure that the team didn’t feel their absence.

Well almost. The fans carried cardboard cut-outs to make their numbers look bigger in an attempt to boost the morale of their team.

Though most of these cardboard ‘fans’ wore the club shirts there were others who were in baseball team Yomiuri Giants’ jerseys, possibly in an attempt to be more realistic though they might have taken it too far by drawing eyes and a smile on one of them.

The match ended in a 1-1 draw sending home both the human and the cardboard fans happy.