Discover this Sunday League Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a stellar experienced squad that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a group of former professionals who have played at the elite tier of club football and international football as you aim for further silverware.

A Manchester team has an amateur vets team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The high-profile roster also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League players have won fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four goals

Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

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

"If you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English caps.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We really have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Andrea Webster
Andrea Webster

Elara Vance is a tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and IT consulting, passionate about helping businesses adapt to new technologies.