Meet this Sunday League Team Boasting 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory 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 improve a stellar experienced squad who have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals who have performed at the top level of club football and international football as you pursue additional trophies.

A Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans team with 9 former top-flight players in their current lineup.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Division.

The squad list this season includes 9 former top-flight players, with a combined nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

This star-studded team also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Household Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those spectators who come and watch are happy and to give a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances.

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

"We literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Division championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson

A business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and corporate innovation.