Meet this Sunday League Team Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a outstanding experienced squad who have won back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players that have played at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for more honors.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

The squad list this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.

The elite squad also includes 222 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match against reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in pre-season this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

"The movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I think I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we can't wait for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Kristy Blankenship
Kristy Blankenship

A veteran automotive journalist with a passion for vintage cars and a keen eye for industry trends.