Meet this Weekend Division Team With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

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

How do you boost a outstanding experienced squad that have won consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a collection of former pro players who have played at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you target further honors.

One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

Their lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a combined nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.

The star-studded squad also contains 222 top division goals and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home match versus defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League players have secured fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this summer through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with three victories from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

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

"It was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

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

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

"Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a

Robert Young
Robert Young

Lena is een ervaren content creator en branding specialist die ondernemers helpt hun verhaal te vertellen.