Introduce this Sunday Division Team Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a stellar experienced squad who have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club and international football as you target more trophies.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League players in their present squad.

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

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

The squad list this season features nine ex- Premier League players, with a total 1,801 Premier League matches.

This high-profile squad also includes 222 top division scores and 325 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in pre-season this summer through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

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

"I think I was a bit awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Karl Miller
Karl Miller

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