England boss Sarina Wiegman left disappointed as Lionesses face Austria in tiny third tier stadium
- Planet Sport writer
- 2 September 2022
England boss Sarina Wiegman was left underwhelmed after learning the newly crowned European champions will face Austria in front of a sold-out crowd of just 2,700.
The World Cup qualifying fixture will be held at Stadion Wiener Neustadt which is normally occupied by third-tier Austrian side 1. Wiener Neustadter SC.
There is no official away fan allocation, and it's understood that ticket sales included only 28 being purchased by UK-based customers.
The previous meeting between the sides on July 6, a 1-0 victory for England in the opening fixture of the European Championship, was at Old Trafford in front of a crowd of 68,871.
A Euros-record 87,192 were in attendance when the Lionesses beat Germany - who had knocked Austria out in the last eight - in the Wembley final on July 31.
Wiegman told a press conference: "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 tomorrow, but they are not there, it will be full and that's just the way it is now."
