Discover this Sunday League Club With Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a outstanding experienced side who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of former pro players who have played at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you target additional honors.

One Manchester side fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 former Premier League players in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

Their roster this campaign boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 elite games.

This high-profile roster also contains over 220 top division scores and over 320 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

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

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to 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 uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"The movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd English appearances.

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

"Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Robin Terry
Robin Terry

A tech journalist and digital lifestyle enthusiast with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and consumer electronics trends.