Meet this Sunday Division Squad With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 win versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a stellar veteran side that have won consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals who have played at the elite level of club and international soccer as you pursue more honors.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their roster this season features nine former Premier League players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The elite squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League players have won fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who come and watch are happy and to make a day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender '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
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 England caps.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"We really haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Premier Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Gina Barrett
Gina Barrett

Oliver Chen is a cloud architect and tech writer with over a decade of experience in distributed systems.