Meet this Weekend League Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a six-two triumph against their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a excellent veteran side who have won consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of former professionals who have competed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you aim for further trophies.

A Manchester team boasts an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Tier.

Their squad list this season features 9 ex- top-flight players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

This star-studded squad also contains 222 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League footballers have won fifteen big trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish caps, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing 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 feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"The fans who turn up and see are happy and to give a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

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

"I tell 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
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

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

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

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

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

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

"We literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Lisa Armstrong
Lisa Armstrong

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in slot game mechanics and player psychology.