Meet the Sunday League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

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

How do you boost a outstanding veteran side that have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a raft of ex- professionals who have performed at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you aim for further silverware.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- Premier League players in their active roster.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 Global Caps

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

Their squad list this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League games.

This elite squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

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

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I thought 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?

"The spectators who turn up and see are happy and to give a 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 play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - 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 running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Premier Division title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Renee Price
Renee Price

A professional casino strategist with over a decade of experience in gaming analytics and slot system optimization.