Introduce this Weekend League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a excellent veteran team who have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a group of ex- pro players that have performed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for more trophies.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur vets team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

Their roster this season includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite matches.

This elite team also boasts over 220 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 big trophies and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.

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

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"Our side held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition veterans team, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Alicia Fox
Alicia Fox

A tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and business solutions across UK industries.