Introduce this Weekend League Club With 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans in a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you boost a excellent experienced side that have secured consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of former professionals who have played at the highest level of club and international football as you target more trophies.

One Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 former Premier League players in their active lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Division.

Their roster this season includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight matches.

This high-profile squad also boasts 222 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home-field match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this season through good mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

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

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The people who come and see are happy and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

"The movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League games.

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

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

John Harper
John Harper

A passionate music journalist and cultural critic with a keen eye for emerging trends in the UK's dynamic arts scene.