Discover this Sunday League Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a outstanding veteran side that have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players who have competed at the elite tier of club and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.

One Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The lineup this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 elite appearances.

The elite squad also contains 222 top division goals and 325 global caps.

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

He made his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured 15 major trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock 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 play, what are you going to choose?

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

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

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.

"We held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Mary Reed
Mary Reed

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in SEO and content marketing, passionate about helping businesses scale online.