Meet the Weekend Division Team With 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

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

How do you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of former professionals that have competed at the highest level of club football and global football as you pursue more silverware.

A Manchester team has an amateur vets team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The roster this season boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

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

Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Experience

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

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

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

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

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

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

"We really haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Colin Knight
Colin Knight

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and cybersecurity trends.