Introduce this Sunday League Squad Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a outstanding experienced squad who have claimed consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club and international football as you target further silverware.

One Manchester side has an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

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

The high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in preseason this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

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

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Top Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

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David Fletcher

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