Discover the Sunday League Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets in a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a excellent experienced squad who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals that have performed at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you aim for more silverware.

One Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active roster.

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

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

The lineup this campaign includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League appearances.

This star-studded team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League players have secured fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in preseason this summer through good mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

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

"If you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who come and see are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

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

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Terri Bennett
Terri Bennett

Lena Visser is a tech enthusiast and science communicator with a passion for making complex topics accessible.