Meet the Sunday League Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two victory versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a outstanding experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a group of former professionals that have played at the highest level of club football and international football as you aim for further silverware.

A Manchester team fields an amateur veterans squad with nine former top-flight players in their current roster.

222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

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

Their squad list this campaign features nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

This star-studded team also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four goals

Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this summer through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for the club from 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and watch are pleased and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

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

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Michelle Flores
Michelle Flores

A tech enthusiast and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in analyzing emerging technologies and their impact on society.