Introduce this Weekend Division Club With 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a outstanding veteran side who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals who have competed at the elite level of club football and global football as you aim for more honors.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

Their roster this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 elite appearances.

The star-studded team also contains over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"The people who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

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

'Surreal Experience

Along with the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

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

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

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Mason Brown
Mason Brown

A technology strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and cybersecurity across UK enterprises.