Introduce the Sunday Division Squad Featuring 1,800 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, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a outstanding experienced side that have secured consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Bring in a group of former pro players who have played at the highest tier of club football and global football as you aim for more silverware.

A Greater Manchester side fields an amateur veterans team with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Vets Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

The lineup this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

This elite squad also boasts over 220 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League players have claimed 15 significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through close mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for the club from 2016 and 2020

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

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

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The 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 having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

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

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

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

"We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Linda Buck
Linda Buck

A senior web developer with over a decade of experience in creating scalable digital solutions and mentoring tech teams.