Introduce this Weekend League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

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

What do you boost a excellent veteran squad who have won back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target further silverware.

A Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

The roster this campaign includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

The star-studded squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home game against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

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

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

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

"The fans who come and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

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

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games.

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

"I felt I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Jamie Ray
Jamie Ray

Aria Vance is a digital content strategist with over a decade of experience in curating premium online entertainment and lifestyle articles.