Introduce the Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

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

What do you improve a outstanding experienced side who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have performed at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester club fields an amateur vets team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

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

The squad list this season boasts nine former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 top-flight matches.

This star-studded team also includes 222 top division goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

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

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have won 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Famous Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

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

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"The people who come and see are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

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

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck 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 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Gary Stevens
Gary Stevens

Emily Thornton is a seasoned business strategist with over 15 years of experience in operational excellence and digital transformation.