Meet this Weekend Division Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a outstanding veteran squad who have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of former pro players that have played at the top tier of club and international soccer as you target more honors.

A Manchester side fields an non-professional vets team with 9 former Premier League players in their present lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

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

The roster this campaign includes nine former top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

The star-studded team also includes 222 top division scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have won fifteen major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

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

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he had his first game at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

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

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

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

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

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Cory Schwartz
Cory Schwartz

A software engineer and tech writer passionate about emerging technologies and digital transformation.