Meet the Sunday League Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

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

How do you enhance a outstanding experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals that have performed at the top tier of club football and international football as you aim for more honors.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their present roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

The squad list this season features nine ex- Premier League players, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The high-profile team also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those people who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

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

We Will Still Take the League'

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

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Steven Hartman
Steven Hartman

An avid bingo enthusiast and community organizer with a passion for bringing people together through fun events.