Discover this Sunday Division Club With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

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

How do you enhance a excellent experienced squad that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a raft of former professionals that have competed at the elite level of club and international football as you aim for additional trophies.

A Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets team with nine ex- Premier League players in their active roster.

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

The team Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their roster this season features 9 former top-flight players, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

The elite squad also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have won fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in preseason this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"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 joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, he made his debut at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"We competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Carly Rodriguez
Carly Rodriguez

A passionate storyteller and poet who crafts evocative tales inspired by nature and human emotions.

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