Discover the Weekend Division Club With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent veteran team who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester side has an amateur veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.

The lineup this campaign features nine former top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.

This elite roster also contains 222 top division scores and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, scoring four goals

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

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

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

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

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Joseph Cochran
Joseph Cochran

A London-based journalist with a passion for uncovering unique stories about British culture and modern life.

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