Discover the Weekend League Team Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a stellar veteran squad who have won back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of former professionals that have performed at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you aim for additional honors.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Division.

The squad list this campaign includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The elite squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their last home game against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of around Β£123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four scores

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he told 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!

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

"Those fans who turn up and see are happy and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

"That movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd English appearances.

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

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

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Keith Lopez
Keith Lopez

A seasoned field service consultant with over 15 years of experience in optimizing operational workflows and implementing innovative management solutions.