Discover the Weekend Division Squad Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two victory against 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 improve a excellent veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you target additional honors.

A Greater Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their present roster.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

Their squad list this season boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

This high-profile squad also contains over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

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

Together, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish caps, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

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

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

"That's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

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

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Mr. Steven Rodriguez Jr.
Mr. Steven Rodriguez Jr.

Lena Visser is an interior designer and writer with a passion for classic aesthetics.