England women's overseas friendlies: Bad for fans, bad for TV and bad for the game

England were in terrific form on Friday night as they dismantled European quarter-finalists Austria 7-2, but there was one little lingering feeling of disappointment on an otherwise tremendous night for the World Cup finalists: If only there had been more people in the stadium to witness it.

Just 949 tickets were sold for this friendly in Algeciras in southern Spain and frankly it did not look as though all of them had turned up. But then, considering that this fixture was announced only on Jan 31, just over three weeks prior to the game being staged on foreign soil for both teams, it was no wonder the turnout was so low.

If the match had been played in Austria or England — where the Lionesses have repeatedly played in front of huge crowds, such as the 71,632 who saw their most recent home fixture at Wembley in December — then how many more thousands of people could have enjoyed this nine-goal frenzy? Which begs the question of whether international games being played on neutral ground overseas are good for the women’s game at all.

It is not hard to see why this warm-weather camp is of great benefit to the Lionesses from a performance standpoint; Perfect conditions last week ensured they could get as much time on the training ground together as they wanted at a time of year where the weather in England can be particularly unreliable, while the relaxed nature of the team’s hotel overlooking the sea can help the squad become even closer-knit.

The pitches at their training base in Marbella — La Quinta Football Center — look immaculate and the players are clearly enjoying it. In the long run, if that helps this team succeed at Euro 2025 and, in turn, facilitates further growth of the women’s game, then many will feel the trade-off was worth it.

England head coach Sarina Wiegman explained some of those upsides to travelling south when asked if it was disappointing there were not more people to witness her team’s emphatic win, saying: “What we chose for this camp was going abroad, having the perfect circumstances. The pitch we train on is really good, the weather is really good. So if we want to practise some things where the team is standing still a little bit more [on the training ground] then that’s what you can do, too. So, the whole picture here gave us a little bit of an advantage, we thought. And yes of course, when we go back to England, we want full stadiums and we want that here too but we know we’re a bit far away, so that’s [about] finding that balance.”

In the immediate term, though, the near-empty stands at the Estadio Nuevo Mirador being broadcast live on ITV1 look dreadful. There was something of a cruel irony that England’s Nations League matches, such as the nerve-jangling 3-2 win over the Netherlands in front of a bustling Wembley crowd in December was shown on ITV4, and then this friendly with empty stands behind both goals which was chosen for ITV’s main channel in a primetime Friday-night slot.

For the women’s game, it’s a disappointing sight after the huge positive of a sold-out Emirates Stadium with a 60,000-plus+ crowd for a Women’s Super League game between Arsenal and Manchester United last Saturday, although there was something a reality check for the WSL 24 hours later when just 997 fans attended Everton’s win over West Ham.

Attendances for Lionesses matches have surged since their Euro 2022 triumph and yet, in terms of overseas friendlies, for match-going fans, of both the teams involved, these kinds of games are somewhat inconsiderate, to say the least. Then you add in the short notice. All three weeks of it. From a logistical point of view, how many people leave it until Jan 31 to make their plans for the February half-term? These games needed to be advertised sooner.

Then there’s the carbon footprint of matches played abroad. To be fair to women’s football, it leaves far smaller impact on the planet than the men’s game does with its lavish and unnecessary private flights to domestic fixtures in the Premier League, for example. But for neither side to be at home guarantees additional air miles at a time when all sports are supposed to be trying to reduce carbon emissions.

So while this February getaway could make a great difference to the Lionesses’ success on the pitch in the long run, there’s no escaping the reality that, at the same time, a fixture of this nature is also bad for fans, bad for the environment, and ultimately bad for women’s football.