Discover the Sunday League Team With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

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

How do you boost a outstanding experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a raft of former professionals who have performed at the top level of club football and international soccer as you pursue further honors.

A Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their current squad.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

Their roster this campaign boasts nine former top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League appearances.

The elite squad also boasts 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won fifteen big trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish caps, scoring four scores

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"Our side held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - 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 coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Gabriel Mccann
Gabriel Mccann

A blockchain analyst and fintech writer with over a decade of experience in digital currency markets and decentralized technologies.