Meet this Sunday League Team With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans in a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a outstanding veteran squad who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you aim for more trophies.

One Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with 9 former Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

Their squad list this season includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 top-flight matches.

The elite team also boasts 222 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match against reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have won fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for the club between 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

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

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group 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 facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Charles Marshall
Charles Marshall

A seasoned sports analyst with over a decade of experience in betting markets, specializing in Canadian sports and statistical modeling.