Meet the Sunday League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a six-two triumph against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a stellar veteran team that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of former pro players that have played at the top level of club football and international football as you pursue further honors.

A Manchester team has an amateur vets team with nine former top-flight players in their active roster.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.

The squad list this season boasts 9 former Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite games.

The star-studded squad also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have won fifteen big trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Household Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

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

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

"The fans who turn up and watch are happy and to give a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - 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 continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

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

"I felt I was a bit awestruck playing against him to be honest.

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

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

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

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets team, who won the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Ryan Keller
Ryan Keller

A tech enthusiast and futurist with over a decade of experience in software development and digital innovation.