Meet this Sunday League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets in a six-two triumph against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent experienced squad who have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a group of ex- professionals who have played at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue additional honors.

One Manchester side has an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active roster.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

Their squad list this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite appearances.

The high-profile squad also contains over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

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

Together, the ex- top-flight players have won 15 major trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

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

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Ashley Perry
Ashley Perry

Samhällsanalytiker med bakgrund i statsvetenskap, fokuserad på demokratiutveckling och offentlig debatt i Norden.