Meet this Sunday Division Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent veteran team that have secured consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have performed at the elite tier of club football and global football as you target additional silverware.

A Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps

The team Vets Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

Their roster this season boasts 9 former Premier League players, with a total over 1,800 elite games.

The elite team also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home match against reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have secured 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four goals

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move 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 continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"Our group really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

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

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Mary Lowe
Mary Lowe

A forward-thinking tech enthusiast and writer, passionate about AI ethics and emerging technologies, with a background in software development and digital strategy.