Discover the Weekend Division Team Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans in a 6-2 victory 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 boost a excellent veteran team who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals who have competed at the top level of club football and international soccer as you pursue more silverware.

One Manchester team has an amateur veterans team with 9 former Premier League players in their current lineup.

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

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

Their squad list this season features nine ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The high-profile roster also boasts 222 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game against defending title holders their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic 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 players have claimed fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this season through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy the game 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 make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"It's a little unusual but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

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

"It was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Stuart Flores
Stuart Flores

A passionate textile artist and historian with over 15 years of experience in preserving and creating timeless tapestry art.