Meet this Weekend Division Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets in a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent veteran side who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the elite level of club football and global football as you aim for more trophies.

A Manchester team fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 former Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight games.

This elite team also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

They include one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against reigning title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have claimed 15 major honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Household Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - 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 continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

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

"Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of normal guys.

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Jessica Smith
Jessica Smith

A passionate gamer and tech writer with over 8 years of experience covering the UK gaming scene and industry developments.