Discover the Weekend League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a stellar veteran side who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Recruit a collection of former professionals that have performed at the top level of club football and global soccer as you target more trophies.

A Manchester side has an amateur vets team with nine former Premier League players in their active roster.

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

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

Their lineup this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 Premier League appearances.

The star-studded roster also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won fifteen significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

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

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

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to give a day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight games.

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

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England caps.

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

"We literally have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith

Tech journalist and digital strategist with a passion for emerging technologies and their real-world applications.

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