Meet the Sunday League Club Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a stellar veteran team that have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the highest level of club and international soccer as you target additional honors.

A Greater Manchester side fields an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

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

The squad list this campaign includes nine former top-flight footballers, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League matches.

This star-studded team also boasts over 220 top division goals and 325 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

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

In total, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based 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

"My friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

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

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

Along with the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

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

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

"I think I was a little starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

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

"Our group really haven't 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 game - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Thomas Stokes
Thomas Stokes

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in media innovation and content development, passionate about emerging technologies.