Meet the Sunday League Squad Boasting 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets in a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you aim for additional silverware.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

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

The squad list this season features 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective over 1,800 elite appearances.

The elite roster also contains over 220 top division scores and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have secured 15 big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish caps, scoring four goals

Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through close mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to give a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

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

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Dr. Carol Martin MD
Dr. Carol Martin MD

A seasoned political journalist with a focus on UK affairs, bringing years of experience and a unique perspective to her writing.