Introduce this Sunday Division Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in 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 enhance a excellent experienced team who have secured consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a collection of former pro players that have competed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you aim for more trophies.

One Greater Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their active squad.

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

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

Their squad list this campaign features 9 former Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite games.

This elite squad also boasts 222 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

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

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Nicholas Meyer
Nicholas Meyer

Alexandra is a digital lifestyle enthusiast with over a decade of experience in tech journalism, exploring how technology shapes our daily lives.