Introduce the Sunday League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

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

How can you enhance a stellar experienced team that have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of former pro players that have played at the elite level of club and international football as you aim for further honors.

A Greater Manchester club has an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

Their lineup this campaign boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 top-flight matches.

The elite roster also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed 15 major trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123 million.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over two hundred Premier League matches.

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

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

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

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Mariah Smith
Mariah Smith

Urban lifestyle enthusiast and freelance writer exploring city culture.