Discover the Weekend League Squad Boasting Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former pro players who have performed at the elite tier of club and international football as you aim for more honors.

One Manchester team has an non-professional veterans team with 9 former top-flight players in their active roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Top Division.

Their squad list this season features nine former Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.

This elite roster also contains 222 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting four scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this summer through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

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

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

"If you still love football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great 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 forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Top Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

Jasmine Paul
Jasmine Paul

Travel enthusiast and hospitality expert with a passion for curating unforgettable experiences.