Discover the Sunday Division Squad With 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a stellar experienced side who have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of ex- pro players who have competed at the top tier of club and global football as you aim for further silverware.

One Manchester side has an amateur veterans squad with nine former top-flight players in their active roster.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Tier.

Their lineup this campaign features 9 ex- top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight matches.

This high-profile team also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

They feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The roster for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight players have won 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

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

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this summer through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

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

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Feeling

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

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

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

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Angela Gibson
Angela Gibson

Astrophysicist and space journalist with 15 years of experience covering orbital missions and celestial phenomena.