Introduce this Weekend Division Club Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a excellent experienced squad that have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have played at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you target additional honors.

One Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.

Their lineup this season boasts nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 Premier League appearances.

This high-profile team also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global caps.

They include one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The roster for this season also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed 15 major honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish caps, netting four goals

Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who come and see are happy and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

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

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

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Rachel Villarreal
Rachel Villarreal

Award-winning video editor with over a decade of experience in digital storytelling and post-production.