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Swansea hoping to host another Wales game soon after friendly cancelled

:Headline: Swansea hoping to host another Wales game soon after friendly cancelled:
The Liberty Stadium held its last Wales fixture in 2013.

Swansea believe "huge interest" in Wales' cancelled game with Austria will encourage Ryan Giggs and his players to visit the Liberty Stadium in the future.

Wales' friendly with fellow Euro 2020 finalists Austria, which was due to be played in Swansea on Friday night, was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The game would have marked the return of the national team to Wales' 'second city' for the first time in seven years, with Croatia the last international visitors there in March 2013.

Swansea's Liberty Stadium should have held its first Wales game for seven years on Friday night (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Only 12,534 turned up for that 2014 World Cup qualifier at a stadium which holds just over 21,000.

But around 12,000 tickets had been sold for the Austria friendly a month out from the game, and Swansea hope that interest will persuade the Football Association of Wales to head west again.

"Like all Wales fans, we were disappointed the game was cancelled after waiting seven years for an international fixture," said a Swansea spokesperson.

"However, it was totally understandable considering the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic. Safety always comes first.

"There was huge interest in the game and ticket sales were exceeding expectations considering there was still nearly a month to go before the fixture.

"It highlighted the level of support in south west Wales for the national team and reinforces the desire for more internationals to be considered for the Liberty Stadium in the future."

The Cardiff City Stadium is regarded as the home of the national team, with most Wales matches staged at the 33,000-capacity venue in the capital.

But the Principality Stadium in Cardiff and Wrexham's Racecourse Ground have both held Wales games since Swansea last played host to the national team.

Most Wales matches are staged at the Cardiff City Stadium (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Swansea's old Vetch Field home first hosted a Wales game in April 1921 when Ireland were the visitors in the now-defunct British Home Championship.

The Vetch was the venue for George Best's Northern Ireland debut in 1964 and regularly staged Wales matches during the 1970s and 1980s.

Its final game was a World Cup qualifier against Finland in October 1988, and Swansea went nearly 17 years without senior men's action before Slovenia visited the Liberty Stadium in August 2005.

The Liberty Stadium has hosted seven games in all, but only two of those have been competitive matches.

Wales had also been due to play the United States in a Cardiff City Stadium friendly on Monday until the coronavirus pandemic saw both March games cancelled.

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3Leicester CityLeicester29165858283053
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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool29271166214582
2Manchester CityMan City28183768313757
3Leicester CityLeicester29165858283053
4Chelsea29146951391248
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd29129844301445
6Wolverhampton WanderersWolves29101364134743
7Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd28111073025543
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs29118104740741
9Arsenal2891364036440
10Burnley29116123440-639
11Crystal Palace29109102632-639
12Everton29107123746-937
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2998122541-1635
14Southampton29104153552-1734
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton29611123240-829
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2976163550-1527
17Watford2969142744-1727
18Bournemouth2976162947-1827
19Aston Villa2874173456-2225
20Norwich CityNorwich2956182552-2721
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