Meet the Weekend League Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a outstanding veteran side who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former professionals who have played at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.

A Manchester side fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine former Premier League players in their current roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 Premier League matches.

This star-studded roster also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

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

Collectively, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured 15 big trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Mark Hernandez
Mark Hernandez

A digital strategist and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in creative web solutions and emerging technologies.