Meet the Sunday League Team With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a outstanding veteran squad who have won consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of former professionals who have played at the highest level of club and global soccer as you pursue further honors.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur vets team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their current squad.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

The squad list this season boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite matches.

This high-profile roster also includes over 220 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for Β£9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their last home-field match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately Β£123 million.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this summer through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"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 ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Sierra Ayala
Sierra Ayala

A prosperity coach and writer who blends ancient wisdom with modern strategies to help readers attract abundance and joy.