Andy McCann has just gotten back to his regular duties after a brief break. By day, he is an assistant headteacher at Great Sankey High School in Warrington, and with the summer holidays now over, the academic calendar is back in full swing. Yet, in just a few days he will be stepping away from the classroom for an eight‑day spell to take on a very different role – that of England manager, albeit in a very specific context. McCann also holds the position of manager for the Cheshire League representative side, a squad assembled from the standout players in the Cheshire League Premier Division.
This team clinched the FA Inter‑League Cup by defeating the Herts Senior County League at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on 9 May, a victory that secured them the honour of representing England at the UEFA Regions Cup. The Regions Cup is an amateur competition that was launched in 1996 and has been staged every two years since 1999, with the exception of 2021 when the pandemic forced a cancellation. National amateur teams either qualify through their domestic leagues or receive a nomination, after which they enter an intermediate stage divided into eight groups.
The group winners progress to a final tournament. Historically, Spain have dominated with four titles, Italy have three, Poland two, and the Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Croatia and the Czech Republic have each won once. On Sunday 6 September, McCann and his squad will depart for Sweden, where they will play three matches and hope to become the first English side ever to reach the Regions Cup finals. "During the Inter‑League Cup, the chairman Rob Goodwin‑Davey – who is the Mr Cheshire League – kept telling me there was a chance we could go on to represent England, but I was only focused on winning the cup," McCann told Sky Sports.
"When we finally lifted the trophy, people in the pub started joking that once the World Cup was over I’d be England manager!" He adds that while the comparison to the senior national team is tongue‑in‑cheek, the experience does feel like a miniature version of international management. "It’s a real privilege and an honour to be England manager for a week, even at this level. We’ve decided we’re the England D team, so we’ll embrace that," he said.
The team will travel to the airport in full England kit – the same tracksuits, shirts, shorts and socks that the senior side wore at the World Cup. "Just being able to pull on that shirt in a competitive match is massive for many of the lads," McCann explained. What sets the Cheshire League side apart from professional outfits is that every player is an amateur with a day job.
The squad includes individuals such as electrician captain Tim Kinsella and quantity‑surveyor vice‑captain Liam McDowell, alongside qualified PE teachers and aspiring teachers working on PGCEs. Some players are taking unpaid leave for the trip, while most are using normal holiday entitlement, treating the eight days as a rare chance to travel together.
McCann promised the squad that if they won the Inter‑League Cup, they would be the ones to go to Sweden, and he has kept that promise. The only absentee is Juliano Rosa Silva, who featured in every minute of the cup run but is sidelined with injury and understandably disappointed. Preparing for the tournament is a challenge because scouting amateur opponents is difficult.
"We have an FA‑registered coach whose main job during the first game will be to observe the other two teams," McCann said. "For the second and third fixtures we’ll have far more information and will be better prepared. Our first match will focus on the qualities that got us to King Power and helped us win the Inter‑League Cup." McCann believes his selection balances technical ability with physical power and pace. "We could have chosen more technically gifted players, but we opted for a side that plays to our strengths," he noted.
The Cheshire League will face representative sides from Finland (Jarvenpää United), Portugal (Algarve) and Sweden (Gothenburg) in the group stage. Of the 34 teams entered, the Finnish side is ranked 11th, the Portuguese 7th, the Swedish 30th, while the Cheshire League sit at 17th.
Although the players are amateurs, the preparation has been as professional as possible. "We have the entire eight‑day itinerary planned down to the hour – rest, recovery, meals, training aligned with match times.
If you’re going to do it, you do it to the best of your ability," McCann emphasized. He also arranged for three members of the Mid‑Cheshire team that won the Inter‑League Cup in 2004 to give a talk after the final training session, drawing lessons from their experience. The aim is not simply to enjoy the novelty of wearing the England badge for a week; the primary goal is to win all three group games and secure a place in the finals.
McCann also sees the tournament as an opportunity to raise the profile of amateur football and inspire the next generation. "We’re not just going to be England for seven days and then get beaten – we want to prove that amateur players can compete at a high level and bring attention to grassroots football," he said. When the Swedish adventure concludes, McCann will return to the school early in the morning, ready to resume teaching and guiding young minds – perhaps with a new title of "England hero" attached to his résumé, at least in the eyes of his students and the local community.