Meet the Weekend Division Squad Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two win versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent veteran squad who have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of ex- pro players who have competed at the highest level of club and global football as you aim for more honors.

A Manchester side fields an amateur vets team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Tier.

The lineup this season features nine former Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 elite matches.

The elite roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes former professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have claimed 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of around £123 million.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this summer through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

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

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Tara Pacheco
Tara Pacheco

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