Discover the Sunday Division Team Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans in a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a excellent experienced team that have won back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of former pro players that have competed at the top tier of club football and international soccer as you target more honors.

A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

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

The squad list this campaign boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The elite squad also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 big trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

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

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

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

"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who come and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he made his debut at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

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

Unreal Scenario

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

"I think I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"We really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Erin Bryant
Erin Bryant

Elara is a philosopher and writer passionate about exploring human existence and sharing wisdom through engaging narratives.