Meet this Weekend Division Squad Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two victory versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a stellar experienced squad who have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of former pro players that have played at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you target further honors.

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

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their squad list this campaign boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

The high-profile squad also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

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

In total, the former top-flight footballers have claimed 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Players

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

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Savannah Ryan
Savannah Ryan

A tech enthusiast and gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering hardware innovations and esports culture.