Discover the Sunday Division Club With Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a outstanding veteran squad that have won consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double with 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals that have competed at the top level of club and global soccer as you target additional honors.

One Manchester club has an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

The elite roster also boasts 222 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Ireland started turning out for the side in pre-season this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those spectators who come and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his debut at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

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

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

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Courtney Brown
Courtney Brown

Maya is a fitness enthusiast and product reviewer specializing in athletic gear, with a passion for sustainable activewear.