Introduce this Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a outstanding experienced squad who have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a group of former professionals who have performed at the elite level of club and international football as you pursue additional honors.

One Manchester side has an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current roster.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are located in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Division.

The squad list this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The star-studded team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

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

Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"The spectators who turn up and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

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

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"That running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

Along with the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

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

"We held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

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

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Premier Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Collin White
Collin White

A tech journalist and science enthusiast with a background in computer engineering, passionate about demystifying complex innovations.

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