Discover this Sunday League Team With 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets in a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a stellar experienced squad that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of former professionals who have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional honors.

One Manchester side boasts an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

The lineup this campaign features 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight matches.

This high-profile squad also contains 222 top division goals and 325 international caps.

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

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have won fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

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

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this season through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

"We held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Jacqueline Andrews
Jacqueline Andrews

A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in gaming reviews and strategy development.