Discover the Sunday Division Squad Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

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

How do you enhance a outstanding veteran team that have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of former professionals who have played at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League players in their active roster.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their squad list this season boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League games.

This star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have claimed 15 major honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he made his first game at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old 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 games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

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

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

"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Calvin Schmidt
Calvin Schmidt

Lena is a certified personal trainer and fitness enthusiast with over a decade of experience in core strength training and wellness coaching.