A crowd of 68,871 turned out as England defeated Austria 1-0 at Old Trafford yesterday (Wednesday), with the game setting a new attendance record for a UEFA Women’s Euro match.
The attendance was significantly higher than the previous record of 41,301, which was set when Germany defeated Norway in the 2013 final at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
The previous record for a group game was 29,092, which was set during England’s 3-2 win against Finland at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium in 2005.
Yesterday’s attendance at Old Trafford, home of Premier League club Manchester United, fell just short of the stadium’s total capacity of 74,000 but nevertheless set a new benchmark for the UEFA Women’s Euro.
The highest crowd at the 2017 Women’s Euro in the Netherlands was 28,182, which was set during the final as the host nation defeated Denmark 4-2 at FC Twente Stadion.
The attendance over the 31 games at the 2017 tournament was 247,041, which surpassed the 216,888 figure set during the 2013 event in Sweden. This summer’s tournament in England is on course to smash that figure with 500,000 tickets having been sold prior to yesterday’s opening match.
The final will take place at the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium on July 31 and appears likely to break yesterday’s attendance record with all tickets for the match already sold out.
The highest ever attendance for a women’s football match is 91,648, which was set in April as Barcelona defeated Wolfsburg 5-1 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou.
Other host venues for this year’s Women’s Euro are Brighton’s Amex Stadium, Brentford Community Stadium, Manchester City Academy Stadium, Stadium MK, Rotherham’s New York Stadium, Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane, Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium and Leigh Sports Village.
England’s remaining group games are against Norway at the Amex Stadium on Monday, and Northern Ireland at St Mary’s Stadium on July 15.
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