🔗 Share this article Meet the Sunday League Club With Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you boost a stellar veteran side who have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 games? Recruit a collection of former pro players that have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional honors. A Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division. Their roster this campaign includes nine former top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 elite matches. The high-profile squad also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances. They include Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012. Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple. Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Collectively, the former top-flight players have won 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m. Well-Known Names and Global Stars He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate. Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform. Oumar Niasse played for Everton from 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker. "Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me! "If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do? "The fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course." Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at defender. "That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said. "I tell my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running. "The movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable." Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team Unreal Scenario In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker. Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen. Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was. He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches. "It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player. "I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest. "Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English appearances. "We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough. "Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home. "They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas. "Now we are eager for the second match." We Will Still Win the Title' Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who won the Top Division title last season, along with his co-manager. "We scored 1-0 ahead and had a