Introduce this Weekend League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two win against 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

What do you boost a outstanding experienced team that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Sign a raft of former pro players that have performed at the highest level of club and global football as you pursue further silverware.

One Greater Manchester club boasts an amateur vets team with nine former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their squad list this season boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a combined 1,801 elite games.

This elite roster also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The team for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 goals

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this season through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

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

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

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not ceased talking 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 bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Evan Edwards
Evan Edwards

Maya Chen is a tech journalist and product reviewer with over a decade of experience covering consumer electronics and emerging technologies.