Discover the Weekend Division Team Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a stellar veteran squad that have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals that have performed at the elite level of club football and international soccer as you aim for further trophies.

One Manchester team fields an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their present roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Division.

The lineup this season boasts nine former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

The high-profile squad also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their last home match against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former 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, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

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

"Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Premier Division championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

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Rachel Kennedy

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