Discover the Sunday Division Squad Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a stellar veteran side who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals who have played at the highest level of club football and global football as you aim for further trophies.

One Greater Manchester club fields an amateur vets team with 9 former top-flight players in their current squad.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Division.

The lineup this season includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite appearances.

This star-studded roster also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those spectators who come and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

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

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson

A software developer and gaming enthusiast passionate about exploring emerging technologies and sharing hands-on project experiences.