🔗 Share this article Meet the Sunday Division Club Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Appearances This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches? Sign a collection of former professionals that have played at the top tier of club and international soccer as you aim for more trophies. One Manchester team fields an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League players in their present roster. 222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division. The lineup this campaign includes 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight games. The elite roster also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international caps. The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012. He made his debut for the team in their most recent home game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick. The roster for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the former top-flight players have claimed fifteen major trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123m. Famous Figures and International Players He won six Irish caps, netting four goals Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in. Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip. Oumar Niasse played for the club between 2016 and 2020 "A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse. "Then he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me! "If you still love football and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do? "Those fans who come and see are pleased and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course." So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back. "That's a little unusual but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running. "That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team 'Surreal Scenario Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker. The team are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen. Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight games. "It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player. "I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd English caps. "We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard. "We really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home. "The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal fellas. "Now we are eager for the return match." We Will Still Win the Title' Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Top Tier title last season, along with his co-manager. "Our team went 1-0 up and had a