Discover the Sunday Division Squad With Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory versus 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 enhance a stellar veteran squad that have secured back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of former pro players that have competed at the top level of club and international football as you target more silverware.

One Manchester side fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 former Premier League players in their current roster.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Tier.

The squad list this season includes 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League matches.

The high-profile roster also includes over 220 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have secured fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this season through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy 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 see are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere 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 inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

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

"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Amber Dorsey
Amber Dorsey

Rafaela Silva is a seasoned betting analyst with over a decade of experience in the Portuguese gaming industry, specializing in odds analysis.