Meet the Weekend League Team With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a 6-2 triumph against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a stellar experienced side that have won consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the top tier of club and global football as you pursue additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The lineup this campaign features nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 elite matches.

The high-profile team also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former Premier League footballers have secured fifteen significant trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for Everton from 2016 and 2020

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

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' 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 full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

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

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

"We really haven't stopped 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 facing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Patrick Kaufman
Patrick Kaufman

Urban planner and lifestyle writer with a passion for sustainable city living and modern design trends.