Meet this Sunday Division Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you enhance a outstanding experienced squad who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a collection of former pro players who have played at the highest tier of club football and international soccer as you pursue additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their present lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier.

Their roster this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

The elite squad also boasts 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have claimed 15 big honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, scoring four scores

Ireland began playing for the team in pre-season this summer through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at defender.

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

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Eric Greene
Eric Greene

Maya Chen is a tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and business innovation, passionate about sharing actionable insights.