Meet the Weekend Division Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

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

How do you improve a excellent experienced team who have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a collection of ex- professionals who have competed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you target more trophies.

A Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

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

The lineup this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

The high-profile roster also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 significant honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

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

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - 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

"A mate Stephen said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

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

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's has over 60 England caps.

"We held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Kristina Brennan
Kristina Brennan

A seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering truth and delivering compelling stories across various topics.