π Share this article Discover the Sunday League Team Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you enhance a excellent veteran squad who have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches? Bring in a raft of former pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club football and global football as you pursue additional honors. One Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present roster. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps The team Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Tier. The squad list this campaign includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League games. This elite team also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances. The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for Β£9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012. He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple. Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured 15 big trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of about Β£123m. Well-Known Names and International Stars Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in. Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their strip. Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker. "After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton 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 choose? "Those people who come and watch are pleased and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course." So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back. "It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said. "I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "The movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team Unreal Experience In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker. Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19. Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred top-flight matches. "It was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player. "I think I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Heskey got on and he's has over 60 England caps. "Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough. "Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home. "They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys. "Now we are eager for the second fixture." 'We'll Still Win the League' Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who secured the Top Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager. "Our team went one-nil up and had a