Introduce the Weekend Division Squad Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

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

What do you boost a stellar veteran team who have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Sign a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the top tier of club and global football as you pursue additional silverware.

One Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.

Their squad list this campaign includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

The star-studded squad also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have won 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this season through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance 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 featured for the club between 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought 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 fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

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

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

"I think I was a bit awestruck playing against him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

David Ferguson
David Ferguson

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