Introduce the Weekend Division Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a excellent veteran team that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a raft of former professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club football and international soccer as you target more trophies.

A Greater Manchester team fields an amateur veterans squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Tier.

The roster this campaign includes nine former Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 elite games.

The high-profile roster also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home game against reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight players have won fifteen major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

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

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go 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 running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Henry Stewart
Henry Stewart

A seasoned financial analyst and tech enthusiast, Elena shares actionable insights on modern living and investment strategies.