Discover the Weekend Division Club Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a outstanding experienced side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Bring in a collection of former pro players who have performed at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for further trophies.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their active squad.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

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

The roster this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The star-studded team also contains over 220 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus reigning title holders their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back 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 combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

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

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"The running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

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

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

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

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Bobby Smith
Bobby Smith

Elena Voss is a seasoned journalist and analyst with a passion for uncovering global stories and connecting dots across cultures.