Introduce this Weekend League Club Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent veteran squad who have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players who have performed at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you pursue more honors.

A Manchester club has an amateur veterans team with 9 former top-flight players in their current roster.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

The lineup this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a combined 1,801 Premier League matches.

This star-studded roster also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have claimed 15 significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals 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 Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"The running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

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

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

"We held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Division title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Jason Salazar
Jason Salazar

Liam Visser is a passionate collector and industry expert with over a decade of experience in the trading card market.