Meet this Sunday Division Club With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets in a six-two win versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a excellent veteran side that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of ex- pro players who have played at the highest level of club and international football as you target additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League players in their present lineup.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their squad list this campaign includes nine former top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

This star-studded team also includes 222 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side in pre-season this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he had his debut at defender.

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

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

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans team, who secured the Top Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Nicole Fry
Nicole Fry

Tech enthusiast and lifestyle writer with a passion for exploring innovative trends and sharing actionable insights.