Discover the Sunday Division Squad Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

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

What do you boost a outstanding veteran squad who have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Sign a group of former professionals that have competed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue additional honors.

One Greater Manchester club has an amateur vets squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier.

Their lineup this campaign features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

This high-profile roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The roster for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he made his debut at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Oscar Montoya
Oscar Montoya

A passionate gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering slot machines and casino trends worldwide.