Meet the Sunday League Club Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets in a 6-2 triumph 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 enhance a outstanding experienced side who have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a group of ex- professionals that have competed at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you aim for additional trophies.

A Manchester club fields an non-professional vets team with nine ex- Premier League players in their present squad.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

The squad list this season boasts nine former top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 elite appearances.

The star-studded squad also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four scores

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

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

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

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

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

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Daniel Winters Jr.
Daniel Winters Jr.

Elara Vance is a digital storyteller and cultural analyst with a passion for exploring how technology shapes human connections across the globe.

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