Discover the Sunday Division Club With 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a stellar experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a collection of former professionals who have performed at the top level of club and international soccer as you pursue additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their current roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

The lineup this season features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight matches.

The elite squad also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home match against defending title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have won 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, scoring four scores

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"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 strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us playing 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 strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Christina Brewer
Christina Brewer

A seasoned gaming enthusiast with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and strategy development.