Discover the Sunday Division Team Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans in a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent veteran squad that have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of former pro players who have competed at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you target more honors.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their present roster.

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

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

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

The elite roster also contains over 220 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish caps, netting four scores

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

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

"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - 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 attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

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

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England caps.

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

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Christopher Day
Christopher Day

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and cybersecurity trends across Europe.