Introduce the Sunday League Team With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets in a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of ex- professionals that have performed at the top tier of club football and global football as you aim for more trophies.

A Manchester team boasts an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

Their roster this season boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite matches.

This star-studded team also contains 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League players have secured fifteen significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

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

Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

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

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

"The fans who come and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn 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 good fun."

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

Unreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

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

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

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

"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Karen Vargas
Karen Vargas

Marine biologist and science communicator passionate about ocean conservation and tech.