Meet this Weekend League Club Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans during 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 boost a stellar experienced squad that have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- pro players who have played at the highest tier of club and international football as you aim for more trophies.

A Greater Manchester club boasts an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight players in their current roster.

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

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

The squad list this campaign boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 elite appearances.

The elite squad also boasts 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 big trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Household Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland caps, netting four goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to make a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.

"It's a little different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

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

"They 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'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Lisa White
Lisa White

Lena is a freelance journalist specializing in Dutch urban culture, history, and community stories. She has been reporting on Tilburg for over a decade.