Introduce this Weekend League Squad With Over 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a outstanding veteran team that have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have competed at the highest level of club football and international soccer as you target more trophies.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

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

Their squad list this campaign features 9 former Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.

The high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC 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- Premier League footballers have won fifteen significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four goals

Ireland began playing for the team in pre-season this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

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

"When 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 come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I love 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 continue running.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Division with three victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

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

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

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Melissa Mitchell
Melissa Mitchell

A cultural critic and writer passionate about exploring modern societal trends and personal development.