Introduce the Weekend Division Team Boasting 1,800 Premier League Games

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

What do you boost a stellar veteran team that have won consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players that have performed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their current squad.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

Their squad list this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite games.

This elite roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four scores

Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Sarah Jackson
Sarah Jackson

A Berlin-based tech journalist and software developer with over 8 years of experience in digital innovation and cybersecurity.