Introduce the Sunday Division Club With 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

How do you enhance a outstanding experienced side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former pro players who have performed at the top level of club football and global football as you pursue additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester side has an non-professional veterans squad with 9 former Premier League players in their present squad.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Division.

Their lineup this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League appearances.

This star-studded squad also boasts 222 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The roster for this season also features former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have won fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those fans who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

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

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

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

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

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Jason Sanchez
Jason Sanchez

Award-winning landscape photographer and outdoor enthusiast documenting Canada's natural beauty.