Introduce this Weekend Division Club Featuring 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Vets during a six-two triumph against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a stellar veteran squad that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a group of former professionals that have played at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you aim for more honors.

One Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Division.

The squad list this campaign includes 9 ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

This elite squad also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this summer through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who come and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"That's a little unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - 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 after. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I think I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We really have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Erica Rice
Erica Rice

Consumer insights expert with over a decade of experience in product testing and market analysis, dedicated to helping shoppers find the best value.