Introduce this Weekend Division Club Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets in a six-two triumph against 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 can you boost a stellar veteran side that have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players that have competed at the top level of club football and international soccer as you target more silverware.

One Greater Manchester side has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps

The team Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier.

Their lineup this season boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight matches.

The high-profile roster also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

They feature one forward, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home match versus reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have won 15 significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

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

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender.

"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, 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 GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we can't wait for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Mark Gill
Mark Gill

A financial analyst with over a decade of experience in credit card industry trends and personal finance optimization.