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

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent veteran side who have won back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of former professionals that have played at the highest level of club and international soccer as you pursue additional honors.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine former top-flight players in their current squad.

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

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

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

The high-profile team also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match against reigning champions their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a GD 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 tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Carl Nelson
Carl Nelson

Elara Vance is a passionate esports journalist and gaming analyst with over a decade of experience covering competitive gaming scenes across Europe.