Meet this Sunday Division Club With 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a excellent veteran squad that have claimed back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest level of club and global football as you pursue more honors.

A Greater Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.

The roster this season features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League games.

This high-profile squad also contains over 220 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have secured 15 major honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish appearances, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A 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 side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell 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 enjoyable."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a goal difference 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 nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Division championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Sharon May
Sharon May

Jonathan is a business consultant with over 15 years of experience in corporate services and workspace solutions.