Meet the Sunday League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets during a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a stellar experienced squad who have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a raft of former pro players who have played at the highest tier of club and international football as you pursue more trophies.

One Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 former Premier League players in their active roster.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

The roster this season includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.

This high-profile squad also includes 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 major honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish caps, scoring four scores

Ireland started turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

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

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England caps.

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"We literally have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Phillip Ballard
Phillip Ballard

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