Meet this Weekend Division Team With Over 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a excellent experienced side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of former pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you pursue additional trophies.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their current squad.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

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

Their squad list this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

The elite roster also includes 222 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Irish appearances, netting four scores

Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round 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 Heskey came on and he's got over 60 English caps.

"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Deborah Goodman
Deborah Goodman

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos and slot machine mechanics.