Discover this Sunday League Club Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

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

What can you enhance a stellar experienced side who have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players that have competed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue more silverware.

A Manchester team has an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

The squad list this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

The high-profile team also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

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

Together, the former top-flight players have claimed 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, scoring four scores

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

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who turn up and see are happy and to make a moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender.

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

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

"The running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England caps.

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Lauren Smith
Lauren Smith

A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in online gambling, specializing in slot machine mechanics and player optimization.