Discover this Weekend Division Squad Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets in a 6-2 victory 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 boost a stellar veteran team that have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of former professionals that have performed at the top tier of club and international football as you target more honors.

A Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans team with nine former top-flight footballers in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

Their roster this campaign includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The star-studded squad also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 international caps.

They feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The roster for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the side in pre-season this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"That running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League games.

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

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Tiffany Santana
Tiffany Santana

A tech innovator and creative strategist with over a decade of experience in developing unconventional solutions for modern challenges.