Discover this Sunday League Squad Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two win versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a excellent experienced side that have claimed back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.

A Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight players in their active squad.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Division.

The squad list this season includes 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The high-profile team also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 big honors and moved for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for the club from 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

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

"If you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at defender.

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

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

"The movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

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

Unreal Feeling

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

The team are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England caps.

"We held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Larry Solis
Larry Solis

Maya is a gaming enthusiast and writer with a passion for reviewing online casinos and sharing strategies.