While the end of March has seen the England men's team congregate at St George's Park for their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, 45 miles away in Cheshire another side is meeting for an important training camp of their own.
In June, England's Amputee Football Association will head to the European Games in Poland where, for the very first time, four countries will compete in the Nations League. The tournament will come less than 12 months after England finished ninth at the World Cup and while there was disappointment at the national team's elimination against Angola, Owen Coyle Jr's side rallied well to beat Poland, Japan and Argentina to secure a respectable ranking.
Coyle has since stepped aside from his duties with Scott Rogers, who had been part of the set-up for two years prior, taking the reigns as interim head coach. It is no secret that the Nations League will be a tough test for England as Poland, Spain and Turkey await them in the summer.
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The latter opponent has set the standard for how the sport can grow. In 2017, England faced Turkey in front of a crowd of more than 40,000 in the final of the European Championships.
But it is not just on an international scale where Turkey are excelling. Amputee footballers are fully professional in Turkey and feature as part of a three-tier league system.
It is a far cry from where England currently finds itself but, speaking to MEN Sport, Rogers is confident that replicating Turkey is a realistic aim and that the Nations League helps them on that journey. He explained: "It is absolutely huge for us.
"It is the first Nations League tournament which amputee football has produced and to have the opportunity to pit our wits against Poland and Turkey who have professional leagues within their respective countries, and also Spain, it is just a fantastic opportunity to play in that competition.
"We would love to [replicate Turkey and Poland]. It is a great model that the Turkish and the Polish have and we would love to follow in their footsteps and have a professional league.
"I think that comes down to primarily funding for it and also raising the profile of the game so that we can get more and more people playing amputee football."
England has already proven that there is an audience for football outside the men's professional game with the rise in popularity of women's football. When asked about the parallels between the women's game and amputee football, Rogers admitted that the success of the Lionesses and Women's Super League is a blueprint for what they hope to achieve.
"We are on very much the same trajectory as the women's game. Hopefully if we get the right amount of funding for it, the right amount of exposure for it, I don't see any reason why we cannot follow in their footsteps and develop the sport further."
Before Rogers and his team headed out into a torrential storm for the first session of their three-day training camp in Reaseheath, MEN Sport spoke to Jay Tregaskiss. Up until recently, the 28-year-old had spent his entire career at Manchester City, but the Blues' decision to pull out of the EAFL saw Tregaskiss agree to play for Portsmouth.
He explained that City are regrouping and that he hopes they will rejoin the league soon. Tregaskiss' journey to the England camp and amputee football started at a young age, as he recalled: "I first started playing football when I was seven years of age.
"I started off with my local football team and was playing football ever since. When I was 13, I was diagnosed with bone cancer and my first thought was that I would never be able to play football again.
"Shortly after that, I found out about amputee football and it just took off from there. Obviously when I lost my leg I had to go through more treatment so I couldn't start straight away but it really encouraged me to get better and as soon as I could, I got involved with it."
Back in 2008 when Tregaskiss was starting out, junior teams had not been formed, but things have changed for the better in the present day. "There wasn't really much of a junior programme back then," he added.
"So for me it was a case of training with the first team until I was ready. Today, we have a reserve team, U21s, juniors camp which is good."
Initially, Tregaskiss played for Manchester until the Blues got involved in 2014, leading him to train with City's academy. By this point, he had already earned a call-up to the England squad and travelled to his first major tournament, the 2012 World Cup.
While Tregaskiss now represents Portsmouth, he still continues to train with the Blues on Tuesday nights and, like his teammates, the midfielder juggles his fitness and training with a full-time job.
For the Hattersley-born player, this comes in the form of his role as manager at JD Sports. Although he admits it can sometimes be a challenge, Tregaskiss is more than willing to put in the work.
"I decided to play for another team, like some of the other lads too, for a bit of a change," he explained when reflecting on his move to Pompey and his time at City. "I know it is a little random playing for Portsmouth but I have a lot of friends there who I have played with for a long time and I wanted to have a season with them.
"It was nothing too crazy, I just fancied a change. I had been with City for about seven years and who knows I may go back once they have reset.
"I still train with them and even though I don't play for them, there is no hard feelings there, so I go there for my fitness and I go to the gym a lot. It can get tough, working full-time, it is not just a case of just turning up here on the odd weekend it is all the in between bits as well, you have got to keep yourself fit."
While moving out to Turkey to play amputee football is not currently on the horizon, Tregaskiss has set his sights on proving himself against them in this summer's Nations League.
"England is rebuilding as well. We have got a lot of young players in the team which is obviously really exciting. We had a lot of new faces in the World Cup and considering there is a lot of fresh faces, the outcome was very positive and it makes me very excited to be a part of this team for the future as these players will only get better.
"With the Nations League we are all very excited for that and it will be a test for us for sure but the main goal is the Euros next year."
The 2024 European Championships will be held in Limerick, Ireland and will see the top 16 nations battle it out for the crown.
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