Meet the Weekend Division Club Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

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

What do you enhance a excellent veteran team that have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a group of ex- professionals that have played at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target further honors.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight games.

The star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

They include one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 big honors and moved for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

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

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

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

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

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

"We competed well for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

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

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Taylor Hurst
Taylor Hurst

A technology journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging tech trends and their impact on society.