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

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

What do you boost a excellent veteran team that have won back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have played at the elite level of club football and international football as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets squad with nine former top-flight players in their present squad.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Tier.

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

The high-profile roster also includes 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

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

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.

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

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

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

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Jesse Wagner
Jesse Wagner

Eleanor Whitmore is a lifestyle journalist and luxury brand consultant based in London.