I must admit, I didn't have a clue where Wiener Neustadt was after hearing England's Women's World Cup qualifier against Austria was being played there.
And I'm probably not the only person who thought that. Just 34 days after winning the Euros in front of more than 87,000 at Wembley, the Lionesses played in front of only 2,600 at a venue built for holding third-tier league football. It was quite the difference.
Sarina Wiegman's side left the ground delighted after booking their place at next year's tournament in Australia and New Zealand with a 2-0 win. Goals from Alessia Russo and Nikita Parris secured a ninth consecutive victory in qualification. England have one more qualifier to play - against Luxembourg on Tuesday - scoring 70 goals and conceding none.
Yet the Stadion Wiener Neustadt was not an appropriate ground for a game of this magnitude. Temporary facilities - including a tent for the press conferences - were required and planes taking off from a small airport next door often drowned out the crowd.
Perhaps the most farcical aspect of the stadium was the water park next door, with one slide overlooking the pitch. Several kids even stopped halfway down that slide to watch the action unfold below. Seeing that happen at a game was certainly a first for me.
The city of Wiener Neustadt itself is quiet, with a population of around 45,000 people, but picturesque. Hauptplatz, the historical town square encircled by mediaeval architecture, is filled with cafes and restaurants. Wiener Neustadt is a pleasant place to visit, but it does feel as if it's in the middle of nowhere.
What's your opinion on the venue for England's Women's World Cup qualifier against Austria? Let us know in the comments below!
Some will argue there wasn't the demand for a bigger stadium, yet that claim doesn't add up. Tickets for this match sold out quickly - a good sign considering it wasn't the easiest ground to get to - and there was a belief that thousands more would've attended if the fixture was held at one of Austria's top stadiums.
In terms of where the qualifier could've been played, many of the top grounds were in use for the weekend's round of Austrian Bundesliga fixtures... but not all of them. Rapid Wien travelled to Altach on Sunday afternoon, leaving the Allianz Stadion vacated. Regardless of whether this fixture would've sold out the 28,000-seater stadium, a lot more fans would've been able to watch the European champions in action.
The Austrian FA have defended their decision, claiming the average attendance of a women's game in the country is below 2,000. Yet the sport is enjoying soaring popularity in Austria thanks to their successful team. Irene Fuhrmann's side reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2022 and challenged England in their previous two meetings before this, both resulting in narrow 1-0 wins for Sarina Wiegman’s side.
The World Cup qualifier certainly attracted the attention of the media in Austria, with Kronen Zeitung - one of the country's biggest newspapers - giving it plenty of coverage in Saturday's edition. The game was Austria's first ever sellout for a women's international.
"The SC Wiener Neustadt 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 basecamp," read a statement from the Austrian FA.
Frustratingly, the Austrian FA had to submit their stadium of choice to UEFA before the Euros and were unable to benefit from the euphoria of the groundbreaking tournament. Ultimately, Austria failed to foresee the demand for this game. Supporters of the Lionesses could've also travelled over in their hundreds if given the opportunity.
Football's governing bodies need to do better when it comes to selecting venues for women's international and domestic matches. Perhaps they could take a leaf out of cricket's book. Since The Hundred was first held last summer, all women's games have been staged at international-standard stadiums. More than 20,000 attended the final at Lord's on Saturday afternoon - around the same time as the Lionesses were in action.
As Wiegman said on Friday: "This stadium is small. I think it could fit some more people or we would like to see some more people. It is a little bit disappointing. But it also shows that the women's games are developing so much that we need to think a little bigger, and we can play in bigger stadiums."
Let's hope Wiegman's opinion is heard.
