Discover this Sunday Division Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Matches

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

What do you enhance a stellar experienced team who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a group of former professionals that have competed at the elite level of club football and global football as you pursue additional honors.

One Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The squad list this campaign features 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The high-profile roster also includes 222 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this season also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have claimed 15 major trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through close friend and current 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.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who come and watch are happy and to make a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"That's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - 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.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

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

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"Our side held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Premier Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

John Cruz
John Cruz

Hospitality expert and travel writer with over a decade of experience covering luxury hotels and event venues across Europe.