Meet the Sunday League Team With Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a outstanding veteran squad who have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a group of former professionals that have competed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you target additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The lineup this season includes 9 former Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 elite appearances.

The elite team also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The squad for this season also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 big trophies and moved for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this summer through good mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League games 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 use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

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

"When you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with three victories from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

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

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Marc Mckee
Marc Mckee

A philosopher and science writer passionate about exploring the mysteries of the universe and human existence through engaging narratives.