Discover the Sunday League Team Featuring 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win 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 improve a outstanding experienced team that have secured consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the top level of club and global football as you pursue further honors.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present roster.

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

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

Their squad list this campaign includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite matches.

The star-studded team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home match against reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

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

In total, the former top-flight footballers have claimed 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Famous Figures and International Players

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

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange 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 do?

"The people who turn up and see 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 somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

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

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

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

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

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