Meet this Sunday Division Team With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you enhance a stellar experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have competed at the top level of club and international soccer as you pursue more silverware.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

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

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

Their lineup this season includes nine former Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.

This elite team also boasts 222 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC 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.

Together, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals

Ireland began playing for the side in preseason this summer through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a bit starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Brittany Richards
Brittany Richards

A software engineer and tech writer passionate about AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, with over a decade of industry experience.