Meet the Weekend League Squad Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a stellar experienced side that have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a group of ex- pro players who have played at the top level of club and international football as you aim for more silverware.

One Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their active squad.

222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

Their roster this campaign features nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The elite team also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton 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.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 significant honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, he had his debut at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

"The movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Unreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we can't wait for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Brandon Ruiz
Brandon Ruiz

Elara is a seasoned digital strategist with over a decade of experience in tech journalism and trend forecasting.