Discover this Sunday Division Club Boasting 1,800 English Top Division Games

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

How can you improve a excellent experienced team that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of former professionals that have performed at the highest level of club and international football as you pursue more silverware.

A Manchester side fields an amateur vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their present squad.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

Their squad list this season boasts nine former top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The star-studded squad also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their last home game against defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

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

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

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

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

"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Premier Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Felicia Kim
Felicia Kim

A Berlin-based writer and cultural enthusiast who shares her experiences bridging German and Canadian traditions through travel and storytelling.