One week shy of the United States of America’s 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 2023–24 FA Inter-League Cup champion Arthurian League’s representative team at Drexel University on June 26 in an international exhibition dubbed the Transatlantic Cup.
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.
The club has also played a key role in the development of tomorrow’s stars, sending dozens of players to the professional ranks of MLS, the USL Championship and USL League One, among other leagues in recent years.
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
“We often hear that kids fall back in love with the game when they’re here through the summer,” Santangelo said. “Obviously we’re creating a lot of success, and kids feel good about that, but we just feel like we’re able to do things a little differently than other programs, because we’re not doing it to pay the bills.
“It’s really not us. It’s us going to the field every night as adults to give back to the kids. But it’s really the kids and all their youth coaches. It takes a village, right? We’re just one more cog in that village.”
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—essentially alumni—of English private schools.
The FA Inter-League Cup is the Football Association (FA)’s cup competition open to leagues roughly at or below the 11th tier of the English league system. It’s contested by representative teams—think all-star teams from each league—from 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—Europe’s only UEFA-sanctioned international amateur club competition.
In the 2023–24 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’ Cup and represent England.
“I think that for a team that is not drilled day in, day out we’ve shown a great bond, a togetherness,” Arthurian League manager Billy Jenkins told the FA ahead of the Inter-League Cup Final. “One 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’d 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.
“You can’t help thinking about the prize of the UEFA Regions’ Cup if you win today, it is not something that crops up every day! It’s an incredible carrot, it’s an incredible prize, so you can’t help thinking about it, although you try not to. If we were fortunate enough to qualify, I’m sure it would take a long time to settle in, let’s put it that way. But we know it’s not going to happen unless we turn up on the day.”
Donning England’s 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.
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™ 100 miles northeast at New York New Jersey Stadium. The international exhibition is also positioned on the day between two of Philadelphia’s six FIFA World Cup 26™ matches.
“We’re trying to create some excitement and get people here,” Santangelo explained. “We’re representing the U.S. and they’re representing England during the 250th anniversary of our country, so it’s pretty exciting.
“[Arthurian League Secretary] Jonathan Hunter called me and said, ‘This is what we’re looking to do. It’s a World Cup. We want to come over.’ We started talking, and we’ve been planning it out for six to eight months. These English fellows are really great; they don’t have to be doing this, but they’re billing it as the trip of a lifetime. We really want to make it a good competitive event.”
The inaugural edition of the Transatlantic Cup is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on June 26 at Drexel University’s Vidas Athletic Complex in Philadelphia. Tickets are available through West Chester United, and the match will be streamed live on YouTube.