Introduce the Sunday Division Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 triumph against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a stellar experienced squad that have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of former pro players who have competed at the highest level of club and global soccer as you aim for further silverware.

A Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their current squad.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

Their lineup this campaign includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League appearances.

The elite roster also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

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

Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this season through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go 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 attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Arthur Cordova
Arthur Cordova

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