Banks’s Stadium will always be a special venue for England legend Rachel Yankey.
For it was in Walsall, the location of the Lionesses’ World Cup qualifier against Bosnia on Friday night, that Yankey made her 100th international appearance, against Turkey in 2010.
She became only the second female player, behind Gill Coultard, to rack up a century of caps – and the day couldn’t have gone much better.
Handed the captain’s armband by Hope Powell, Yankey opened the scoring in the first half and then set up Jess Clarke for the final goal in a comfortable 3-0 win. The fleet-footed winger was subsequently named player of the match for her star turn.
"I remember when Hope told me I was going to be captain," Yankey recalled. "I said she didn’t need to do that because it was an important game and we needed to win it.
"I wanted things to stay the same. Getting the win was more important than me being captain. It wasn’t about me, it was about winning the game.
"But looking back now, of course it was very special. Reaching 100 caps and getting anywhere near Gill Coultard’s record had never really entered my head before. It’s an achievement I’m extremely proud of.
"I hadn't scored an England goal for a while so when my shot went in the emotion really came out, especially as it was an important goal for us."
Yankey would go on to earn 129 caps and was England’s most-capped player until Fara Williams broke the record in 2014.
Many pundits and fans wrote Yankey off when she failed to make the squad for Euro 2009, and that makes her landmark day in Walsall all the more satisfying.
"That game was so special to me, more special than anyone would probably realise," she explained.
"People had started to say that I was finished, that I’d never play for England again. So to win my 100th cap about 10 games later, under the same manager, was very, very special.
"Every manager has their reasons for squad selection and that’s fine. That’s football. But I thought I was in good form and I felt really good.
"The training programme we had at the time was geared towards peaking at a major tournament, so I felt in a really good place. Obviously it wasn’t to be. But even after missing the Euros I still felt I was good enough for England, so to come back, reach 100 caps and prove everyone wrong was really, really nice."
Meanwhile Yankey believes the current England team is shaping up nicely and she is confident they can make it to France 2019.
She added: "On paper, we should win the next two games quite comfortably.
"Obviously, you still need to go out there and perform. It's a challenge the girls will relish. Hopefully they put a marker down and get a couple of big wins.
"We need to qualify for that World Cup and then be confident when we are there."
