Introduce the Weekend Division Squad Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a stellar experienced side that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Sign a collection of former professionals that have performed at the highest level of club football and global football as you target additional silverware.

A Manchester club fields an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

Their lineup this campaign features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 elite appearances.

The elite team also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have won 15 big trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just go inside - 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 continue attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

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

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

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

"I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Jonathan Carson
Jonathan Carson

A seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering untold stories and exploring global events.