Discover this Sunday League Team Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans in a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a stellar veteran side that have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of ex- pro players that have played at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you pursue additional honors.

One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current squad.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

The squad list this campaign includes 9 former top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League appearances.

The star-studded team also contains 222 top division scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour opening period triple.

The roster for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

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

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

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"The running is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

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

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Heskey came on and he's has over 60 English caps.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Timothy Phillips
Timothy Phillips

Lena Vermeer is a financial analyst and blogger specializing in personal finance and investment strategies.