Discover this Weekend Division Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a 6-2 triumph versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a stellar experienced squad that have secured consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a collection of former pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue further honors.

One Manchester club boasts an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.

The lineup this season features 9 ex- Premier League players, with a total 1,801 top-flight games.

The elite roster also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their last home match versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have secured 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

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

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

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

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

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

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

"We held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys.

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Danielle Carr
Danielle Carr

A tech enthusiast and avid traveler sharing stories and insights from around the world.