Discover this Weekend Division Team Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets in a 6-2 triumph 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 can you improve a excellent experienced squad who have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have performed at the top level of club and international soccer as you target further trophies.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Division.

Their squad list this season boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight games.

The elite team also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global caps.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured 15 major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won 6 Irish appearances, scoring four goals

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

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

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

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such 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 forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a bit starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

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

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Kevin Long
Kevin Long

A seasoned gaming journalist with over a decade of experience in analyzing casino trends and providing strategic insights.