Introduce the Sunday League Club Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a stellar experienced squad that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of former pro players who have performed at the elite tier of club and global football as you aim for additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The squad list this season features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight appearances.

The star-studded roster also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their last home game versus reigning champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.

"The running is what I'm after. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances.

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we can't wait for the second match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Samantha Barber
Samantha Barber

Lena Visser is een ervaren pedagoog en moeder van twee, die haar passie voor kindontwikkeling deelt via KindScopeNow.