Meet this Sunday Division Squad Boasting 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a outstanding veteran squad that have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a group of ex- pro players who have played at the elite level of club and international football as you target additional silverware.

One Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Tier.

Their squad list this season includes 9 former Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan 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 Premier League players have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

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

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

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

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love running 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 running.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

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

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English caps.

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who won the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Nicholas Petersen
Nicholas Petersen

A professional gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino strategy and game mechanics.