Discover this Weekend Division Team With 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets in a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a stellar experienced squad that have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a collection of former professionals who have played at the top tier of club and global soccer as you target further honors.

A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional vets team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

Their squad list this season includes nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 elite games.

The high-profile roster also includes 222 top division goals and 325 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The team for this season also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won 15 significant trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for the club from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

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

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

"Those spectators who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

"The movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

"We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Larry Brown DDS
Larry Brown DDS

Elara is a digital storyteller and community advocate who explores human experiences through writing and multimedia projects.