Introduce this Weekend Division Team With 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

What do you improve a outstanding veteran team that have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have competed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you aim for additional silverware.

One Manchester side fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Tier.

Their roster this campaign includes nine former top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 Premier League matches.

The elite squad also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

They include one forward, who scored 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and see are pleased and to make a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

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

"I think I was a bit awestruck playing against him to be honest.

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

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

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

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Sandra Chapman
Sandra Chapman

Data scientist with over a decade of experience in predictive modeling and AI ethics, passionate about making complex data concepts accessible.