Discover this Weekend League Club Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets during a 6-2 win against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent experienced team who have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of former professionals who have played at the elite level of club football and international soccer as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Tier.

Their lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

This elite roster also includes over 220 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through good friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who come and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love running and just move forward - 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 running.

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

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, 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, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

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

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd English caps.

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Kimberly Foster
Kimberly Foster

A tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and business transformation across European markets.