Discover this Sunday League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two win against their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a outstanding veteran squad that have claimed consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the top tier of club football and international football as you aim for more silverware.

A Manchester side fields an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their roster this campaign includes 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 Premier League matches.

This elite roster also includes 222 top division scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against defending champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The team for this season also features former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have secured fifteen significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland began playing for the team in preseason this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"The spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy 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 attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

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

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

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

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

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

"Our side competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

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

"The opponents 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 return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Miguel Mckenzie Jr.
Miguel Mckenzie Jr.

Elena Hartfield is a seasoned journalist and editor with over a decade of experience covering UK affairs, specializing in business innovation and digital trends.