Meet this Weekend League Team Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets in a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a stellar veteran squad that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the top tier of club football and international soccer as you target more honors.

One Manchester side has an amateur veterans team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their current squad.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.

The roster this campaign features nine former top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The high-profile squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have claimed fifteen significant trophies and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, scoring 4 scores

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange 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 do?

"The fans who come and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his first game at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling 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 normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Mark Carr
Mark Carr

A seasoned lottery analyst with over a decade of experience in gaming trends and prize predictions.