Discover this Weekend Division Squad Boasting 1,800 English Top Division Games

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

What do you enhance a excellent veteran team that have won consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of ex- professionals who have performed at the top tier of club and global soccer as you aim for more trophies.

One Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

Their squad list this season boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

This star-studded squad also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home match versus reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured 15 big trophies and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Names and International Players

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

Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

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

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

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"The fans who come and see are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while 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 top of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

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

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight games.

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

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

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

"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Jason Pacheco
Jason Pacheco

Elena is an astrophysicist and AI researcher who translates complex space data into captivating visual stories.