Discover the Sunday League Team With 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 triumph versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a stellar experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of ex- pro players that have competed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue further silverware.

A Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their active roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Tier.

Their squad list this season features 9 ex- Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League matches.

This star-studded roster also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home game against reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have secured 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish caps, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

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

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Deborah Carter
Deborah Carter

An urban designer and writer passionate about sustainable city living and innovative architecture.