{"id":682393,"date":"2026-06-03T19:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/682393\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T19:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T19:24:14","slug":"amateur-champions-of-the-united-states-england-set-for-semiquincentennial-spectacle-in-philadelphia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/682393\/","title":{"rendered":"Amateur Champions of the United States, England Set for Semiquincentennial Spectacle in Philadelphia"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week shy of the United States of America\u2019s semiquincentennial, the amateur club soccer champions of the U.S. and England will face off in Philadelphia, Pa., less than five miles away from Independence Hall. 2025 United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) National Amateur Cup champions West Chester United SC will face the 2023\u201324 FA Inter-League Cup champion Arthurian League\u2019s representative team at Drexel University on June 26 in an international exhibition dubbed the Transatlantic Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1976 in West Chester, Pa., West Chester United SC currently fields teams in the NPSL, USL League Two and the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania, among other leagues. Under head coach and program director Blaise Santangelo, the club has been revitalized in recent years, becoming a consistent national power in the amateur soccer ranks.<\/p>\n

The club has also played a key role in the development of tomorrow\u2019s stars, sending dozens of players to the professional ranks of MLS, the USL Championship and USL League One, among other leagues in recent years.<\/p>\n

West Chester has found success at all levels over the past decade, claiming several USASA Region I U-23 titles, winning state cups, topping its conference and division in both the NPSL and USL League Two, and lifting the USASA National Amateur Cup in 2025. The club has also participated in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on multiple occasions and <\/p>\n

\u201cWe often hear that kids fall back in love with the game when they\u2019re here through the summer,\u201d Santangelo said. \u201cObviously we\u2019re creating a lot of success, and kids feel good about that, but we just feel like we\u2019re able to do things a little differently than other programs, because we\u2019re not doing it to pay the bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really not us. It\u2019s us going to the field every night as adults to give back to the kids. But it\u2019s really the kids and all their youth coaches. It takes a village, right? We\u2019re just one more cog in that village.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Blaise\"Blaise<\/p>\n

Blaise Santangelo (center), West Chester United players celebrate their win in the 101st USASA National Amateur Cup Final at Uihlein Soccer Park on July 26, 2025, in Milwaukee, Wis. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox\/USSF\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

For the visiting Arthurian League representative team, the story is a little different, but the success is on par with WCU. Affiliated with the Amateur Football Alliance and not associated with the English football league system, the Arthurian League was founded in 1961 and today consists of 56 clubs each comprised of old boys\u2014essentially alumni\u2014of English private schools.<\/p>\n

The FA Inter-League Cup is the Football Association (FA)\u2019s cup competition open to leagues roughly at or below the 11th tier of the English league system. It\u2019s contested by representative teams\u2014think all-star teams from each league\u2014from FA-affiliated leagues and select non-FA leagues, such as the Arthurian League. Players are only eligible if they have never been signed to a professional contract. The competition was founded in 2003 in order to determine an English representative for the UEFA Regions’ Cup\u2014Europe\u2019s only UEFA-sanctioned international amateur club competition.<\/p>\n

In the 2023\u201324 FA Inter-League Cup Final, the Arthurian League rep team secured an extra-time victory against the West Yorkshire Association Football League representative team to book a place in the 2025 UEFA Regions\u2019 Cup and represent England.<\/p>\n

\"The\"The<\/p>\n

The Arthurian League representative team celebrates after defeating the West Yorkshire Association Football League representative team in the 2023\u201324 FA Inter-League Cup Final at Lincoln City FC\u2019s Sincil Bank Stadium in Lincoln, England, on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Andy Nunn\/The Arthurian League)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that for a team that is not drilled day in, day out we\u2019ve shown a great bond, a togetherness,\u201d Arthurian League manager Billy Jenkins told the FA ahead of the Inter-League Cup Final<\/a>. \u201cOne of the best things is when you see all the players in the dressing room talking together, no one was in a corner in their own little group, they\u2019d really bonded together. I think that is a key ingredient, especially for a rep team. You have a small window of opportunity working with the players to get some basics installed, but in many ways, you have to leave it up to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t help thinking about the prize of the UEFA Regions\u2019 Cup if you win today, it is not something that crops up every day! It\u2019s an incredible carrot, it\u2019s an incredible prize, so you can\u2019t help thinking about it, although you try not to. If we were fortunate enough to qualify, I\u2019m sure it would take a long time to settle in, let\u2019s put it that way. But we know it\u2019s not going to happen unless we turn up on the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donning England\u2019s Three Lions on their shirts, the Arthurian League rep team traveled to Finland to face a trio of teams from Finland, Portugal, and Latvia, ultimately finishing with a 1-0-2 record and bowing out of the tournament in the intermediate round.<\/p>\n

\"England\u2019s\"England\u2019s<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Arthurian League representative team and Portugal\u2019s Lisbon Football Association representative team line up ahead of their UEFA Regions\u2019 Cup opener at Myyrm\u00e4ki Football Stadium in Vantaa, Finland, on July 31, 2024 (Photo by Andy Nunn\/The Arthurian League)<\/p>\n

Now, the English amateur champions will be faced with a new international challenge as they head to the United States for an intercontinental clash just one day before England faces Panama in the FIFA World Cup 2026\u2122 100 miles northeast at New York New Jersey Stadium. The international exhibition is also positioned on the day between two of Philadelphia\u2019s six FIFA World Cup 26\u2122 matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to create some excitement and get people here,\u201d Santangelo explained. \u201cWe\u2019re representing the U.S. and they\u2019re representing England during the 250th anniversary of our country, so it\u2019s pretty exciting.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Arthurian League Secretary] Jonathan Hunter called me and said, \u2018This is what we\u2019re looking to do. It\u2019s a World Cup. We want to come over.\u2019 We started talking, and we\u2019ve been planning it out for six to eight months. These English fellows are really great; they don\u2019t have to be doing this, but they\u2019re billing it as the trip of a lifetime. We really want to make it a good competitive event.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inaugural edition of the Transatlantic Cup is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on June 26 at Drexel University\u2019s Vidas Athletic Complex in Philadelphia. Tickets are available through West Chester United<\/a>, and the match will be streamed live on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One week shy of the United States of America\u2019s semiquincentennial, the amateur club soccer champions of the U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-682393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}