Discover this Weekend League Team With 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent experienced squad who have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a group of former pro players that have performed at the highest tier of club and global football as you target further honors.

One Manchester side has an amateur vets team with 9 former top-flight players in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.

Their roster this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 elite games.

The elite team also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender 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 footballers have won fifteen significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123 million.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Ireland started playing for the side in preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for the club from 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

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

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

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Premier Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Jessica Green
Jessica Green

A passionate esports journalist with over a decade of experience covering major tournaments and interviewing top players worldwide.