Meet this Sunday League Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two triumph versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a stellar experienced squad who have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a group of former professionals who have played at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you target more trophies.

One Manchester team has an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

The lineup this campaign boasts 9 former Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.

This elite team also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish caps, scoring four scores

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

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who come and see are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

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

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

"The movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

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

The team are top of the Premier Division with three victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Dylan Gomez
Dylan Gomez

A seasoned content strategist with over a decade of experience in digital marketing and blogging innovations.