Meet the Weekend League Club With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

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

What can you improve a excellent veteran team that have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the elite level of club and global soccer as you target further silverware.

One Manchester side has an non-professional veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Tier.

The squad list this campaign features nine former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League games.

The high-profile squad also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home game against reigning champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 scores

Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against 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 mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If 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 spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

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

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

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

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Brian Morris
Brian Morris

A tech enthusiast and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in software development and emerging technologies.