Meet this Sunday Division Squad With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

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

What do you enhance a stellar experienced squad that have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the elite level of club football and international football as you target additional honors.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

Their squad list this season features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 elite appearances.

This elite squad also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

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

In total, the former top-flight players have won fifteen major trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Marissa Bridges
Marissa Bridges

A nutritionist and food blogger passionate about sustainable eating and healthy lifestyle tips.