Meet this Sunday League Club With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a outstanding veteran side that have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals who have performed at the top level of club and global soccer as you target additional honors.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their active roster.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Division.

Their squad list this campaign boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League appearances.

The star-studded team also contains 222 top division scores and 325 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those spectators who come and see are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

"It's a little different but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight games.

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

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"Our side held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Michelle Lopez
Michelle Lopez

A London-based tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering UK startups and digital transformation.