With sport only just starting to return around the world after more than a two-month hiatus, sportspeople everywhere have been forced to find new ways to occupy their time away from the competition.While clubs seem to have been very proactive in providing training regimes and meal plans, everyone has been forced to face long days inside that they just are not used to.However, crisis is often the mother of innovation and it seems that plenty have taken the time as an opportunity to try out new skills or just pass the time with something silly.Strangely given that fans will not be able to attend when sport returns, the lockdown has also been a good time for sports stars to connect with their supporters via social media or through playing games online to provide some sort of entertainment.Here, we look at 15 ways that sportspeople, teams and media have looked to remain occupied while in isolation…
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Renowned for his dead-ball technique, Liverpool right-back Alexander-Arnold has been showing off his skills on social media. One particular post showed the England man perfectly clipping a ball onto a garden lounger from distance.
Jesse Lingard
With plenty of challenges circulating online, Lingard performed two of them: the toilet roll challenge and the top bins challenge.
James Milner
Often characterised by his somewhat boring demeanour, Milner sometimes enjoys playing up to the joke. During lockdown he decided to create an isolation XI using a number of household items and comparing them to other players.
Andy Robertson
The Scot appears to be something of a polarising figure on social media, but he chose to open himself up to questions from all-comers. The results included a fascinating admission about Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi.
Troy Deeney
In a kind gesture on Mother’s Day, the Watford man released a thoughtful poem in honour of him mum on Instagram.
Felipe Melo
A player who was never really renowned for his close control, Melo put his own spin on the toilet roll challenge by filming himself completing a trademark two-footed challenge on the paper.
Burnley FC
Burnley started the fun goal chain thread posting a video of a goal against one club, who could then post a video of a goal against someone else, with the one rule that you should not include any team twice. However, Chelsea decided to end the chain by uploading footage of Demba Ba’s famous title-campaign-ending goal against Liverpool, who had already featured.
Richarlison
With guidelines advising people to sing happy birthday while washing their hands, Richarlison put his own spin on things by singing the song created for him by the Everton fans.
Clive Tyldesley
The commentator is clearly missing the action and even resorted to commentating on his wife as she made lasagne.
Cesc Fabregas
With Ligue 1 already deciding the outcome of their season we may not see Fabregas back on the pitch for some time. However, he has been using the time to tell a must-read story about former teammate Willy Caballero on Twitter.
Leeds United
Following their match with Cardiff City being called off, the club decided to stream a match on FIFA to satisfy their fans.
Bruno Fernandes
While he may have made an impressive start to life in English football, he is having less luck in his back garden, with teammate Diogo Dalot filming him after losing a ball in a tree.
Hull City
Despite no longer being a Premier League club, Hull are still competing at the top level in connect four, beating Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on Twitter.
Plymouth Argyle
With no football set to be played in the lower leagues for some time, Plymouth have allowed fans to help them with their Football Manager campaign and have even started live tweeting matches.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The Liverpool midfielder seems to have been working on his moves in lockdown and released a video on TikTok of him and his girlfriend Perrie Edwards of Little Mix dancing.