The small size of the stadium for the Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier against Austria is a “little bit disappointing” after their victory at the Euros, manager Sarina Wiegman has said.
Saturday’s match is being held at the Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Austria, which has a capacity of around 2,700.
Tickets are sold out, but with no official allocation system for away fans, only 28 were purchased by UK-based customers.
When the Lionesses beat Germany in the European final at Wembley on 31 July, there were a record 87,192 people in the stands.
Similarly, when England last faced Austria, beating them 1-0 in the opening fixture of the Euros, 68,871 people watched at Manchester’s Old Trafford stadium.
It comes as the UK government confirmed a review into the women’s game, chaired by former England midfielder Karen Carney.
Commissioned in April, it will look to secure investment and resources at elite and grassroots level.
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England manager Sarina Wiegman told a press conference ahead of the Austria game: “It’s totally different. Coming from the Euros, it was really good.
“Now, this stadium is small and I think… we would like to see some more people – I think the Austria team too, they are ready for that.
“It is a little bit disappointing. But it also shows that the women’s game is just developing so much that we need to think a little bigger, and we can play bigger stadiums.
“The Austria team has developed so much, they’ve done such a good job. It’s good that it’s sold out, but I hope in the future they’ll take another decision.
“We would have loved to have more spectators, but they are not there, it will be full and that’s just the way it is now.”
Stadium decision made far before Lioness victory
Her Austrian counterpart Irene Fuhrmann said their home stadium has “treated them very well over the years”.
But she added: “Hopefully in the future fans, with showing up consistently, force us to look at a bigger stadium. Of course it’s a pity that not everybody can come to the game.
“We are not that far as England in terms of gaining audience inside our stadiums.”
A spokesperson for the Austrian Football Association said the decision was made well before the Lionesses’ victory at Wembley.
They added in a statement: “Saturday will be the first sell-out in Austrian WNT history.
“The stadium is our home base because it has by far the best pitch quality of all the stadiums that would host us and is located close to our base camp.
“A late change wouldn’t have been possible because you need to lock the stadium in at UEFA 60 days in advance of the fixture.”
