🔗 Share this article Meet the Sunday Division Squad Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances The bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you improve a excellent veteran squad that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games? Recruit a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the top level of club football and international soccer as you target additional silverware. A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current squad. 222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier. Their lineup this campaign features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 Premier League games. The high-profile squad also boasts 222 top division goals and 325 international caps. They feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012. Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick. The roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. In total, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m. Well-Known Figures and International Stars Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate. Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip. He featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "A friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker. "Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me! "When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do? "The spectators who turn up and see are happy and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course." So great is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back. "It's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said. "I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking. "The running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe Unreal Scenario In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front. The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from three and a goal difference of +19. One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games. "It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said the player. "I felt I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest. "Even Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd English appearances. "Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard. "Our group literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home. "They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we can't wait for the second fixture." 'We'll Still Win the League' The manager manages the opposition veterans team, who secured the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire. "We went one-nil up and had a