Discover the Sunday League Team Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a excellent veteran squad that have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have played at the top level of club and global soccer as you target additional trophies.

One Manchester side has an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current squad.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

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

The lineup this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight games.

This star-studded roster also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to give a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd English appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Justin Manning
Justin Manning

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in casino strategy development and player psychology.