Introduce this Weekend League Team With Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two triumph against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a stellar experienced squad who have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former professionals who have played at the top level of club football and international soccer as you target further trophies.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their current squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

The lineup this season includes 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

This elite roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their last home-field match versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton 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.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during preseason this summer through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

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

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

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three victories from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

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

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I think I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Frederick Bryant
Frederick Bryant

A tech enthusiast and digital storyteller passionate about exploring how technology shapes modern life and entertainment.