Introduce the Sunday League Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent veteran squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have competed at the top tier of club and global football as you target further trophies.

One Manchester team fields an amateur vets team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their present roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this season boasts 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League games.

This star-studded squad also includes over 220 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League players have claimed 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who come and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

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

"Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Nicole Conway
Nicole Conway

Elena Voss is a cloud architect with 10+ years of experience in designing scalable cloud solutions.