Meet the Sunday Division Club With 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two victory against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a stellar experienced squad who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club football and global football as you aim for additional silverware.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Tier.

The lineup this season boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

This high-profile roster also includes 222 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have won 15 significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Household Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish caps, netting four goals

Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

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

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

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Kristen Johnson

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