Meet the Sunday League Club Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a excellent veteran squad who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals that have competed at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you target further silverware.

One Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Division.

Their lineup this season features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 elite games.

This elite team also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

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

Together, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen major trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

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

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"The people who come and watch are pleased and to give a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

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

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

"That running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

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

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

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

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

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we can't wait for the second match."

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Nicole Ramirez
Nicole Ramirez

Elara Vance is an astrophysicist and science writer with a passion for making space exploration accessible to everyone.