Introduce this Sunday Division Squad Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a outstanding veteran squad who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a group of former pro players that have performed at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you aim for further silverware.

A Manchester club has an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

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

The squad list this campaign includes 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The elite team also contains 222 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this season also features ex- pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"Those spectators who turn up and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere 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 unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

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

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

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

"Our group literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Cassandra Krause
Cassandra Krause

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on society.