Introduce this Sunday Division Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you enhance a excellent veteran team who have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players that have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue further honors.

One Manchester club boasts an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League players in their present lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.

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

The star-studded team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The squad for this season also includes former pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won fifteen major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this season through good mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Greg Brewer
Greg Brewer

Elara is a seasoned sports analyst with over a decade of experience in betting strategies and market trends.