Discover the Weekend Division Team Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

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

How can you enhance a excellent experienced side who have won back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of former professionals who have performed at the elite level of club and international football as you pursue more silverware.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

Their lineup this season includes 9 former top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The star-studded team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their last home match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The squad for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen big trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and International Players

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

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games 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 training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those fans who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell 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 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got over 60 English caps.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Top Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Christopher Stevenson
Christopher Stevenson

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