Meet this Weekend Division Team Boasting 1,800 English Top Division Matches

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

How can you boost a stellar veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a collection of ex- professionals who have performed at the highest level of club and international football as you pursue additional trophies.

A Manchester team has an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their active lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

The roster this season boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League appearances.

This high-profile team also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight players have won 15 significant honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances.

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

John Townsend
John Townsend

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on business and society.