Discover the Weekend League Team With 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two triumph against their opponents on October 19th (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 team who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Recruit a group of ex- pro players who have competed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you target further silverware.

One Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.

Their squad list this season features nine former Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The elite team also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

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

Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

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

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

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

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"The fans who come and watch are happy and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move 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 attacking.

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

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Michael Wade
Michael Wade

A seasoned sports analyst and betting strategist with over a decade of experience.