Meet this Sunday League Club With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a stellar experienced team who have claimed consecutive championships, including a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of ex- professionals who have competed at the top tier of club and global football as you aim for more silverware.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur veterans squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Tier.

The lineup this season includes 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 Premier League appearances.

This high-profile roster also contains 222 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home game against defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have won fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

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

"When you still love football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

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

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

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

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

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Tiffany Mooney
Tiffany Mooney

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino reviews and player advocacy.