Meet the Weekend Division Team Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a excellent experienced side that have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a group of ex- professionals that have played at the top tier of club and global soccer as you target more honors.

A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active lineup.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

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

The lineup this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite games.

The star-studded squad also includes 222 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The team for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen big trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"The movement is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

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

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Christopher Grimes
Christopher Grimes

Elena Vance is a senior energy consultant with over 15 years of experience in grid optimization and renewable integration projects across Europe.