Discover this Sunday League Club Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a outstanding experienced side that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players who have performed at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you pursue more silverware.

One Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine former top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

Their roster this campaign boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

This star-studded roster also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

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

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have won fifteen major honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, scoring 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

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

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

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to give a day if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I love running and just move forward - 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.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Heather Johnson
Heather Johnson

Elara is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and consumer electronics.