Meet the Sunday League Team Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 win against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent veteran side who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players who have performed at the top level of club and international football as you aim for more silverware.

A Manchester side has an non-professional veterans squad with nine former Premier League players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

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

The squad list this season includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

This high-profile squad also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match against reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, scoring four goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who turn up and see are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Feeling

Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum 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 regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Victoria Stevens
Victoria Stevens

A seasoned gaming enthusiast with over a decade of experience in reviewing online casinos and sharing insights on player strategies.