Discover this Sunday League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

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

How can you boost a stellar experienced squad who have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a collection of ex- pro players who have competed at the top level of club and international soccer as you target further honors.

A Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this campaign features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 elite appearances.

This high-profile team also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at defender.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said the player.

"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

John Price
John Price

Wildlife biologist and photographer specializing in sloth behavior and rainforest ecosystems, with over a decade of field research experience.