Meet this Weekend League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a stellar veteran team who have secured back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue more honors.

One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional veterans squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

Their roster this season features 9 ex- top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 elite games.

The star-studded roster also contains 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this season also includes former professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League footballers have secured 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this summer through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

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

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Jessica Wright
Jessica Wright

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering consumer electronics and digital trends across Europe.