England’s Amateur representative team step up their preparations for the forthcoming UEFA Regions' Cup fixtures with a friendly against Jersey on Saturday 27 September.
The match will be played at the Springfield Stadium in St Helier with a 6.30pm kick-off. The team is represented by the Southern Amateur League, winners of The FA Carlsberg National League System Cup.
The FA's Leagues Manager, Mike Appleby, who is responsible for the side, stated that he has been looking for suitable opponents for while.
"We were looking for a fixture in Europe," Mike explained, "but with most National Amateur sides involved in UEFA Regions' Cup qualifying matches it was proving difficult.
"An approach was made to the Jersey FA who kindly agreed to the fixture. It is important that the players get used to an England set-up prior to the Regions' Cup fixtures. They will train and live together for a three day period and I hope they find the experience invaluable.
Team Manager Bob Leeds is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. He told TheFA.com:
"Once the dust had settled on our victory in The FA Carlsberg National League Systems Cup Final at the Ricoh Arena in May, our thoughts have been firmly set on preparing for the trip to Italy to represent England in the UEFA Regions' Cup.
"We have our traditional fixtures arranged against Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the Amateur Football Combination, who we beat in the Semis, but the opportunity to travel as a squad, hold a couple of training sessions to really nail down free kicks and re-starts will be invaluable in our quest to succeed in Italy and beyond, and we are grateful to the Jersey FA for hosting the game.
"All the squad are focused on the job in hand and are all looking forward to pulling on the England shirt. I only wish I was 20 years younger so I could pick myself," he joked.
Following the Jersey fixture the team will finalise their preparations before travelling to northern Italy on 25 October to take on Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Italy.
Follow the fortunes of the team on TheFA.com.