Meet this Sunday League Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

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

What can you enhance a outstanding veteran side that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of ex- professionals who have competed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you aim for more trophies.

A Manchester club has an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The squad list this season features 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite games.

This high-profile team also contains 222 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home game versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

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

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those people who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"We really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Kenneth Morrison
Kenneth Morrison

A passionate outdoor enthusiast and certified hiking guide with over a decade of experience exploring Canada's wilderness.