Meet the Sunday Division Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two win against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a outstanding experienced team who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the top tier of club and global soccer as you target more honors.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets squad with 9 former Premier League players in their active roster.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.

The roster this campaign features 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 top-flight appearances.

The high-profile roster also contains 222 Premier League goals and 325 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their last home match against defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have secured 15 major honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this summer through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

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

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

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

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

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

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

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

"We really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Larry Webster
Larry Webster

Elara Vance is an astrophysicist and science writer passionate about making space accessible through engaging articles and cosmic storytelling.