Meet the Weekend Division Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a stellar veteran team that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the top tier of club and global football as you pursue further silverware.

A Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

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

Their roster this season boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

This star-studded roster also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have won fifteen big trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in pre-season this season through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at full-back.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"That movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said the player.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Sara Robinson
Sara Robinson

Marcus is a seasoned sports analyst with over a decade of experience in betting markets.

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