Introduce the Sunday Division Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a outstanding experienced team who have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have competed at the highest tier of club and international football as you target more silverware.

One Manchester team has an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Division.

The roster this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

The star-studded team also includes 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the team in preseason this summer through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those fans who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

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

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

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

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Joseph Garcia
Joseph Garcia

A travel enthusiast and lifestyle writer who shares personal stories and tips from adventures across Canada and beyond.