Discover the Sunday Division Squad Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets in a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a stellar experienced squad who have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a group of former professionals that have competed at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional trophies.

One Manchester team fields an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active roster.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

Their squad list this campaign includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight games.

This high-profile squad also contains 222 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

They feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

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

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish appearances, netting four goals

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

"The movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

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

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Amy Taylor
Amy Taylor

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and emerging technologies across Europe.