Meet the Weekend League Team With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

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

How do you enhance a outstanding veteran team who have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest level of club and global soccer as you pursue additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their active squad.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Tier.

The squad list this season boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League games.

This elite team also includes 222 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

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

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 scores

Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this summer through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for Everton from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen said 'come and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give a day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans team, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Erika Ayala
Erika Ayala

A seasoned collector and writer specializing in vintage and modern trading cards, with over a decade of experience in the hobby.