Discover this Sunday Division Team With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

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

What do you improve a stellar experienced side that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a raft of former pro players who have competed at the elite tier of club and international football as you target additional trophies.

One Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present squad.

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

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

Their roster this season includes nine former top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight appearances.

The elite squad also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The squad for this campaign also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Players

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

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through good friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Top Division with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight matches.

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

"I felt I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Cameron Ortiz
Cameron Ortiz

Liam is a seasoned gamer and writer with a passion for exploring game mechanics and sharing insights with the gaming community.

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