Meet the Sunday Division Club Boasting 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

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

What do you boost a outstanding veteran side that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of former pro players who have competed at the highest tier of club football and international football as you aim for more trophies.

One Manchester team boasts an amateur vets team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their current roster.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

The roster this campaign includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

This elite roster also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

They feature one forward, who scored 37 scores in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have secured fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Names and Global Stars

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

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in pre-season this summer through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"The spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

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

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy 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.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Karen Herrera
Karen Herrera

A tech entrepreneur and business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and startup consulting.

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