Discover this Sunday Division Team Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two win against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you enhance a outstanding experienced team that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players that have competed at the top tier of club and international soccer as you target further trophies.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets team with 9 former top-flight players in their active roster.

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

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

Their roster this season boasts nine former top-flight footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The elite roster also includes over 220 top division scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

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

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

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

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

"The running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't stopped talking 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 playing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Alicia Tanner
Alicia Tanner

Elena is a seasoned journalist and blogger with a passion for uncovering stories that matter to everyday life in the UK.