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

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

What do you enhance a stellar veteran side that have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target further trophies.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional vets team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

Their roster this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 elite appearances.

The star-studded team also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

They include one forward, who netted 37 scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home match against defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this summer through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

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

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

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

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

"Our group really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Cynthia Velazquez
Cynthia Velazquez

Maya is a digital productivity coach and writer who specializes in minimalist workflows and tech tools for creative professionals.