Discover this Sunday Division Squad With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a outstanding veteran squad that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a collection of ex- pro players that have performed at the highest tier of club and international football as you aim for additional honors.

One Greater Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

The lineup this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League appearances.

The elite team also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of around £123 million.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Unreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

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Joan Lopez

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