Introduce the Sunday Division Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets in a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent experienced team that have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals that have competed at the elite level of club football and international football as you aim for further honors.

A Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans team with nine former Premier League players in their present roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

The squad list this campaign features nine former top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The high-profile roster also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home match versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, netting four goals

Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this summer through good friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.

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

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

"The running is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's has over 60 England caps.

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

"Our group literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Top Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Mr. Martin Turner
Mr. Martin Turner

Lena Visser is a freelance writer and digital storyteller passionate about exploring the intersection of technology and human experience.