Meet this Sunday Division Team Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

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

How can you boost a excellent veteran side who have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of former professionals that have performed at the elite level of club and international soccer as you pursue further trophies.

One Greater Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Division.

The squad list this season boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

The high-profile squad also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The team for this season also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in pre-season this season through good friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"The fans who come and see are happy and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

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

"That's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really have not ceased chatting 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 playing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

John Rose
John Rose

A seasoned gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering esports and technology trends.