Introduce this Sunday Division Team Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two triumph versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a stellar experienced squad who have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a group of former professionals that have played at the top level of club football and international football as you pursue further honors.

A Greater Manchester side fields an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

The roster this campaign features nine ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 elite appearances.

This star-studded roster also boasts 222 top division goals and 325 global appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their last home match versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City 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 championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish caps, scoring four scores

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and watch are happy and to give a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That running is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

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

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Veronica Alexander
Veronica Alexander

Automotive journalist with over a decade of experience, specializing in vehicle testing and consumer guides.