Discover the Weekend Division Team Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent experienced side that have won back-to-back titles, including a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a group of former professionals that have performed at the top tier of club football and international football as you pursue additional honors.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active roster.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their squad list this season features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite matches.

The elite team also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, netting four scores

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

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020

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

"After that he told 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 enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The people who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

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

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League matches.

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

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

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

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

"We literally haven't ceased 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 group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Ann Poole
Ann Poole

Elena is a nature enthusiast and writer dedicated to sharing the wonders of meadows and sustainable practices.