A group of friends crafted some lifesize dolls of themselves when their pal caught Covid-19 ahead of the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy.
Chris Pope tested positive for the virus on Friday and another PCR test on Saturday confirmed he had the disease.
He was forced to cancel his plans to watch the historic match on Sunday, but his friends wanted to make sure he had some company to watch the match.
Chris told Lancs Live : "As soon as I found out I wouldn’t be able to watch the game I was gutted."
Throughout the tournament, Chris had made plans to support England and was hoping to watch the final with his pals, as they were all supposed to go to his home.
He said: “You want to be around your mates after the year we’ve had, it’s been the one good thing, watching the football.
“Everyone’s got a reason to meet each other now and do things a little different than normal.”
But after he tested positive for Covid-19, his friends hatched a plan to create puppet versions of themselves made out of pillows, newspaper and tights, each with a cutout picture of their face and wearing their actual clothes.
After making the puppets on Saturday, the group decided to leave them at Chris’ door and then rang him to tell him that "they" were waiting outside for him.
His friend Rory Cocker said: “We wanted it to be a bit of a surprise.
“We had to sneak up the side of the house and we just left them there.
“Jack rang him and said, mate can we come in but Chris was like, no what are you on about I’ve got Covid.
“We told him it’s fine - he opened the door and he’s got his three mates sitting there.”
Rory and Chris have known each other since they were 16 and have spent years watching football matches together, sharing their love for Preston North End.
“We’ve watched hundreds of games together so it was gutting we weren't going to watch it together,” Rory said.
When he opened his door to see the three figures slumped against his fence, Chris said he just burst out laughing in shock.
He said: “I couldn't believe the effort they'd gone to be honest.
“It was so funny because they were actually really good- I was just laughing my head off.
“I loved it because they clearly thought about me and I’m buzzing that they went to that much effort.”
