Meet this Weekend Division Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

How do you boost a excellent experienced squad who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a group of former pro players that have competed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you target further silverware.

One Greater Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their lineup this season features nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.

The star-studded team also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

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

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

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

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

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

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a bit awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

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

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular guys.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Matthew Jarvis
Matthew Jarvis

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in the iGaming industry, specializing in Canadian market trends and player safety.