Watching the match on the couch - with a twist

German football club Union Berlin came up with a novel way to allow their fans watch World Cup matches together.

They filled their stadium with 750 sofas and lined them up to face a giant screen for their fans’ viewing pleasure.

They advertised the idea with this YouTube video back in May. The ‘does what it says on the tin’ tagline was: “Mein sofa steht im stadion” (My sofa is in the stadium, says Google translate).

The Stadion an der Alten Forsterai was extensively modernised in recent years, with the official opening in 2013. As money was tight at the club, the work was done by the fans themselves. More than 2,000 Union supporters spent 140,000 hours completely rebuilding the ground.

After all that work, we think they definitely deserve the chance to put their feet up and watch the footie.

Great public viewing idea at Union Berlin's stadium, where 750 sofas have been lined up to watch #WorldCup matches. pic.twitter.com/jWEWiSUMle

— Christian Machowski (@CM_MalagaFoto) June 13, 2014