Meet this Weekend Division Team With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a stellar experienced team that have won consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 matches?

Bring in a group of former professionals who have performed at the top tier of club football and international soccer as you pursue more honors.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets team with nine former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

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

The roster this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 Premier League games.

The high-profile team also boasts 222 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators 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 somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"That running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

"I think I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.

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

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

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Catherine Foster
Catherine Foster

A seasoned casino analyst with over a decade of experience in online gaming, specializing in slot machine strategies and game reviews.