Introduce the Weekend League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two triumph versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a stellar veteran side who have secured consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of ex- pro players who have played at the elite level of club football and international football as you pursue further trophies.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

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

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

The lineup this season includes nine former Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League games.

The high-profile roster also contains over 220 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, scoring four scores

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

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

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

"The people who come and see are happy and to give a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go 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 keep running.

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

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

Dreamlike' Experience

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd English appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.

"We literally have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Jasmine Berger
Jasmine Berger

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