Discover the Sunday League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets during a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent experienced team who have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a collection of former professionals that have played at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue additional honors.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

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

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

Their roster this campaign includes 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.

This star-studded team also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global caps.

They include one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a half-hour opening period triple.

The squad for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have claimed 15 big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those people who come and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

"It'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 hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Michael Travis
Michael Travis

Liam is een ervaren foodcriticus en schrijver, gespecialiseerd in Amerikaanse keuken en lokale eetgelegenheden.