🔗 Share this article Discover this Sunday League Club With Over 1,800 English Top Division Appearances This bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How can you improve a stellar experienced team that have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two games? Bring in a raft of ex- pro players who have competed at the top level of club and global soccer as you pursue more silverware. A Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League players in their current lineup. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances The team Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division. Their squad list this campaign boasts 9 former Premier League players, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games. This elite team also contains over 220 top division scores and over 320 global caps. They include one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012. Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick. The team for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the former top-flight players have won 15 big trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123m. Household Names and International Stars Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in. Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their strip. He featured for the club from 2016 and 2020 "My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker. "Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me! "If you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course." So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back. "It's a bit different but then, I love running 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 continue attacking. "That running is what I'm looking for. It's good fun." Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe Unreal Feeling Along with Cisse's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker. Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19. One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was. He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches. "The news was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow. "I felt I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest. "Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England appearances. "We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard. "Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home. "They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys. "Now we can't wait for the return fixture." 'We'll Still Win the League' The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, together with Paul Maguire. "Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a