Discover this Sunday Division Club With 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a outstanding experienced team that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a group of former pro players who have played at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target more honors.

A Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Tier.

Their roster this campaign includes nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.

This star-studded team also contains over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

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

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

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

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy running 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 running.

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a little starstruck facing him to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd English appearances.

"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Sandra Harrington
Sandra Harrington

A tech journalist and digital culture analyst with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their societal impacts.