Meet the Weekend League Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 win versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a outstanding veteran squad that have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have played at the top level of club and international football as you pursue further honors.

A Greater Manchester side has an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 Global Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their roster this campaign includes nine former top-flight players, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

This high-profile team also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen significant trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, scoring four goals

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

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

"We held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Aaron Cruz
Aaron Cruz

A passionate astrophysicist with a decade of experience in space research. Author of 'Stardust to Infinity'.