Meet this Sunday Division Squad Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a outstanding veteran side who have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have performed at the highest level of club and global soccer as you target further trophies.

A Manchester team fields an amateur veterans team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Division.

Their squad list this season features 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

This elite roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this summer through close mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and watch are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Linda Gardner
Linda Gardner

Elena is a certified fire safety specialist with over a decade of experience in emergency preparedness and equipment testing.