Meet this Weekend Division Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

What do you enhance a outstanding veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you target additional trophies.

One Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

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

The squad list this season boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 Premier League matches.

This star-studded squad also includes over 220 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The roster for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have secured 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in preseason this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side 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 know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

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

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Arthur Martinez
Arthur Martinez

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