Meet the Sunday League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

What do you enhance a outstanding veteran team that have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you target more honors.

One Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Division.

Their roster this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

The elite roster also contains over 220 top division scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have won fifteen significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Household Figures and Global Players

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

Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

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

"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 looking for. It's good fun."

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

Unreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match up front.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we can't wait for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Laura Davis
Laura Davis

A local transportation expert with over 10 years of experience in the taxi industry, passionate about providing top-notch service to the community.