Meet this Sunday Division Club With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory 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 experienced side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 matches?

Sign a group of former pro players who have performed at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you pursue further trophies.

A Manchester club has an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their current squad.

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

The team Vets Over 35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Division.

Their squad list this campaign features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 elite appearances.

The high-profile roster also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this campaign also features ex- pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have won 15 big honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this season through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at defender.

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

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

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

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Austin Park
Austin Park

A gaming technology analyst with over a decade of experience in slot machine design and regulatory compliance, passionate about innovation in the gaming industry.