Introduce the Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets in a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a excellent experienced squad who have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of former professionals who have performed at the elite level of club football and international soccer as you target further silverware.

A Manchester club fields an amateur vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are based in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

Their roster this season features 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The team for this season also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

"The running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Joseph Phelps
Joseph Phelps

Elena is a child education expert and content creator dedicated to making learning fun and accessible.