Discover this Weekend Division Squad With 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a stellar experienced squad that have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.

One Greater Manchester team boasts an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their current roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

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

Their roster this campaign features nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight appearances.

The star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game against defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Players

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

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"The people who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at full-back.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Also Heskey came on and he's got over 60 English caps.

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

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

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Kayla Webster
Kayla Webster

A seasoned gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering esports and strategy games, known for detailed analysis.