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

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

How can you enhance a outstanding veteran team who have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club football and global football as you aim for further silverware.

One Manchester team fields an amateur veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their current roster.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

Their lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

The elite team also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

They include one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting four scores

Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this summer through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based 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

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

"After that he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

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

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets side, who won the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Ashley Baker
Ashley Baker

Marcus is a seasoned sports analyst and betting strategist with over a decade of experience in the UK gambling industry.