Discover this Sunday League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

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

What do you enhance a excellent experienced squad who have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of former pro players that have played at the top level of club and international soccer as you aim for additional silverware.

A Manchester team fields an amateur vets team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present squad.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Tier.

Their roster this season includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 elite games.

The star-studded squad also includes 222 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

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

Ireland started playing for the side in pre-season this season through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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 enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

"That running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Mr. Stanley Mann
Mr. Stanley Mann

A digital media strategist and journalist with over a decade of experience covering UK media landscapes and technological shifts.