Discover this Sunday League Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent veteran squad who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you pursue further trophies.

One Manchester club fields an amateur veterans team with nine former top-flight players in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.

Their squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

This star-studded team also boasts 222 Premier League scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The team for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 major honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this summer through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The fans who come and see are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

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

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

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

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

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Stephanie Browning
Stephanie Browning

A fashion journalist and lifestyle curator with over a decade of experience in luxury brands and global trends.