Discover the Weekend League Team With Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

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

How can you enhance a outstanding veteran team that have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of former pro players who have played at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you aim for more trophies.

One Manchester team boasts an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

Their roster this campaign features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 top-flight matches.

The elite squad also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

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

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

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

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Division with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's has over 60 English caps.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Mary Hill
Mary Hill

Elara Vance is a digital strategist with over a decade of experience in SEO and content marketing, helping businesses enhance their online presence.

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