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

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a outstanding veteran side that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club football and international football as you pursue more silverware.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this campaign includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 elite appearances.

This high-profile team also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have won fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 scores

Ireland started playing for the side in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

"We held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Mr. Shaun Macias
Mr. Shaun Macias

Tech enthusiast and software developer with a passion for AI and digital transformation, sharing insights from the UK tech scene.