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

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans during a 6-2 triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a excellent experienced side that have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have competed at the highest level of club and international football as you aim for further trophies.

A Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets team with nine former top-flight players in their active lineup.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The roster this season features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

The elite squad also contains over 220 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their most recent home match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"After that he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who turn up and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"The movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling 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 can't wait for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Melissa Bennett
Melissa Bennett

A seasoned sports betting analyst with a passion for data-driven insights and fair play.