Discover this Sunday Division Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have won consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest level of club and global football as you pursue further silverware.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Division.

The lineup this season features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

The high-profile squad also boasts over 220 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

They feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have won 15 significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this summer through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

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

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

"When you still enjoy 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 see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

"That's a little unusual but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back 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 defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

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

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

David Proctor
David Proctor

Environmental scientist and sustainability advocate with over a decade of experience in eco-friendly living and green technology.