Meet this Weekend Division Team Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

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

How can you improve a excellent veteran side who have secured back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals who have competed at the top level of club and global football as you target more trophies.

One Greater Manchester side fields an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current roster.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.

Their roster this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League games.

This high-profile roster also boasts 222 top division goals and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 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 FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

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

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side in pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

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

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

"We competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

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

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Donna Carter
Donna Carter

A seasoned casino strategist with over a decade of experience in slot machine analysis and gaming industry insights.