Meet the Sunday Division Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans in a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a stellar experienced team who have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club and global football as you target additional trophies.

A Greater Manchester club fields an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester 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 elite games.

This high-profile squad also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

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

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

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

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

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"The running is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match up front.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

"I think I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Jacob Stephens
Jacob Stephens

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casino strategies and slot machine mechanics.