ENGLAND’S Lionesses will return to the Coventry Building Society Arena for a high-profile friendly against South Africa in October.
Sarina Wiegman’s side will face South Africa on Tuesday, October 29 with kick-off at 7.45pm at CBS Arena – the home of Coventry City.
The Lionesses booked their place at UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 last month and head to the tournament as defending champions following their triumph on home soil at Euro 2022.
Ticket details will be announced shortly. The match will be broadcast live on ITV4.
The Lionesses beat Italy 2-1 in their last match at the CBS Arena in February last year which attracted a crowd of 32,128 spectators.
That came as part of a double-header in the Arnold Clark Cup and broke the previous record attendance at the Arena for a sporting event.
It was also the biggest ever attendance for a women’s football match in the Midlands.
The Lionesses, who are third in the world rankings, play EURO 2025 hosts Switzerland at Bramall Lane in Sheffield in their final game of the year.
Wiegman said: “Our preparations for the EUROS start now. Securing our place at the tournament next summer, without the need to participate in the play-offs, gives us the maximum time to prepare for the challenge that awaits us in Switzerland.
“With the current UEFA Women’s Nations League format the opportunities to play friendlies are limited. Therefore I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to carefully select our opponents and give ourselves four very different and difficult challenges to aid our preparation. Each nation has a different style of play, a variety of strengths and that will test us in different ways.
“Being able to take the team across the country is also very important to us and we’re pleased to be heading back to Coventry and Sheffield and two excellent stadiums. We have happy memories from both cities and I have no doubt the fans will come out in their numbers to support the team, as they always do.”
CBS Arena managing director, Paul Michael, added: “The Lionesses really captured the imagination of the nation when they won the EUROs and the squad will be determined to retain their trophy in Switzerland next year.
“Their friendlies will form an important part of their preparation and we are looking forward to hosting the Lionesses against South Africa this Autumn.
“This reinforces our reputation for hosting major national and international fixtures in a variety of sports and I’m sure it will be another night to remember at Coventry Building Society Arena.”
