Discover this Weekend Division Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during a six-two triumph against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you improve a stellar experienced team who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have competed at the top level of club and international football as you aim for additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine former Premier League players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

The squad list this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite games.

This elite team also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

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

Together, the ex- Premier League players have claimed fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Household Names and Global Players

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

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this summer through close mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances 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 leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a little starstruck playing against him to be honest.

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

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

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

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

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Brittany Stone
Brittany Stone

A software engineer and tech writer passionate about open-source projects and AI advancements.