Introduce the Sunday Division Team Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a excellent experienced squad that have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the elite level of club football and international soccer as you aim for more honors.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

Their roster this campaign features nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The high-profile team also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against defending title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

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

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen big trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for the club from 2016 and 2020

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

"Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"That running is what I'm after. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

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

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

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

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Albert Sparks
Albert Sparks

A passionate storyteller and digital creator, Elara crafts immersive tales that resonate with readers worldwide.