Meet the Sunday Division Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

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

What do you improve a excellent experienced side that have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players that have performed at the elite tier of club and global soccer as you target more trophies.

A Manchester club has an amateur vets team with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

The lineup this campaign features 9 ex- top-flight players, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.

This star-studded team also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed 15 significant honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"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 say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got over 60 England caps.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

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

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Larry Torres
Larry Torres

Elara Vance is a software engineer and tech writer based in London, specializing in Python development and AI applications.