Discover this Weekend Division Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

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

What can you enhance a outstanding experienced team who have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals who have played at the elite level of club football and global football as you aim for more silverware.

A Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their active roster.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

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

The roster this season includes 9 former top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 Premier League appearances.

The high-profile roster also contains over 220 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

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