The Three Lions may have roared their way to a World Cup semi-final for the first time since 1990 but it was at the 2015 World Cup that their female counterparts went one better, retuning with bronze medals to the embrace of a new audience.

Next summer the Lionesses should be back in World Cup action, this time as one of the favourites, but qualification is yet to be secured. While France, who are the hosts, Spain and Italy have already secured their passage, at the top of Group One things are less certain.

Wales lead England by a point, though the second-placed side have a game in hand, and the two sides meet next month with the winner able to secure qualification.

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The teams could not be separated when they met in April. Phil Neville’s first home game in charge was a frustrating one as a resolute Welsh defence – and some outstanding goalkeeping from Laura O’Sullivan – kept England at bay. The Wales manager, Jane Ludlow, whose team is made up primarily of professional and semi‑professional players, said it ranked in Welsh history, from a female football perspective, as “probably the best” performance.

An impressive 25,603 fans made the trip to Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium (capacity 32,505) to watch and with the chance for Wales to qualify for their first major tournament, and to do so against such close rivals, next month’s fixture offers a huge opportunity for the Welsh FA to boost interest in women’s football.

Their choice, then, to host the crunch fixture on Friday 31 August at Newport County’s Rodney Parade – capacity 7,850 – is disappointing. Tickets sold out within 24 hours – with England’s allocation gone within hours of their release.

The attendance will far surpass the hosts’ record crowd, thought to be less than 4,000, yet it is hard not to think that the decision to play the game in Newport lacks ambition.

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So why have they done it? It is clear the Welsh FA wants to create what they think will be the best environment for their side to ensure a historic qualification: a packed crowd, with limited away supporters, at a ground close to where Wales train and an aim to disrupt the flow of a team which had 79% possession in their previous encounter.

Wales’s past three home qualifiers – against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia and Kazakhstan – have pulled in a total of 7,024 fans. But there is a big difference between those ties and a decider against England. The Lionesses attracted 10,029 to the Banks’s Stadium in Walsall for their qualifier against Bosnia in November. This is a game ripe with opportunity. Schools are out, it is a game where a vibrant home crowd will be important and both teams are yet to lose in qualifying. There was so much potential for this game, with some savvy marketing, to explode in Wales.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The 7,850-capacity Rodney Parade ground during Newport County’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham last season. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images

There are barriers to hosting the match in a big ground, of course. You would likely have more England fans in attendance, though if you invested in a bold strategy you would be confident of limiting their impact – and in any case Wales were superb in the Lionesses’ den of St Mary’s with an overwhelmingly hostile crowd. There are logistical questions. Cardiff City’s 33,280-seat stadium plays host to Arsenal in the Premier League on 2 September.

Swansea’s Liberty Stadium (21,088) is available with the men’s side away at Millwall in the Championship, but is less conveniently located for many who would want to travel to the game.

It is unlikely either of those more ambitious stadiums would be at capacity. However, surely if you could get 10,000-15,000 – and more than that may not be unrealistic – rattling around a bit would be worth the extra interest and new fanbase.

It sometimes feels like many are too quick to accept the challenges as insurmountable, yet in men’s football where there’s a will there’s a way. The heat too much for Qatar to host a World Cup? Fifa will move it from its summer slot to the winter, Tottenham’s new stadium build has overrun? They will be handed an away fixture start and Wembley’s availability will be extended.

Yet moving a domestic men’s fixture for a crucial women’s international, investing in a strategy to get tens of thousands there, or even just having belief in the power of a fixture to push feet through the turnstiles are all seen as out of reach.

Instead, we find ourselves a month away from a match worthy of promotion and hype but for which fans, Welsh or otherwise, can no longer buy tickets. It’s a crying shame.

Talking points

• Manchester City’s Izzy Christiansen has signed a two-year deal with European champions Lyon. The Lioness was pictured in the stands with former teammate Lucy Bronze as Fulham played Lyon (men’s) in a pre-season friendly. Lyon have lost Camille Abily to retirement and sold a number of midfield options while Dzsenifer Marozsan is out of action with a pulmonary embolism.

• Chris Kirkland has joined Liverpool as the side’s goalkeeping coach. The former England and Liverpool goalkeeper, whose daughter is in the Centre of Excellence at Liverpool Ladies, replaces Joe Potts who has left the club by mutual consent.

• West Ham United have joined clubs such as Lewes and Arsenal in ditching the use of ‘Ladies’ in their name and rebranded as West Ham United women’s team.

• The Women’s Charity Trophy returns on Sunday 12 August at The Hive, home to Barnet FC. An FA Women’s National League side will take on a host of ex-England internationals with the funds raised going to the Grenfell Foundation and the Harrow Club. Former Arsenal manager Vik Akers will lead an all-star line-up including Kelly Smith, Rachel Yankey, Marianne Spacey, and Casey Stoney, among others.

• The FA Women’s National League (third tier) have seemingly revealed the fate of the Sunderland and Blackburn appeals against their respective demotions from the top tier and second tier. The account included both in their tweeted list of clubs that will make up the National League Northern Premier and Southern Premier Divisions.