Discover this Weekend Division Squad Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans in a 6-2 win versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a excellent experienced squad who have won consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the elite level of club football and international football as you aim for additional trophies.

One Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans team with nine former top-flight players in their active roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 International Appearances

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

Their lineup this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined nearly 1,800 elite games.

The elite roster also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home-field match against defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder 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.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 scores

Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us playing 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 love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"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 Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Chris Mcdaniel
Chris Mcdaniel

Lena is a passionate tech journalist and avid gamer, known for her in-depth analysis and engaging storytelling in the gaming community.