Discover the Sunday League Squad With 1,800 Premier League Games

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

What can you enhance a outstanding experienced side who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of former pro players who have played at the elite tier of club football and international football as you pursue additional honors.

A Greater Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

Their roster this season includes nine former top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 elite games.

This elite roster also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home match versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

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

Household Names and International Stars

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

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

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

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

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The people who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Rebecca Leblanc
Rebecca Leblanc

A tech enthusiast and business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and market analysis.