Introduce the Weekend League Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

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

How can you improve a stellar experienced team that have claimed consecutive titles, including a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 matches?

Sign a group of former professionals who have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you target further silverware.

One Greater Manchester side fields an amateur veterans team with nine former top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

Their lineup this season includes nine former Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 top-flight games.

This high-profile roster also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their last home-field match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who come and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

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

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

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

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

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

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas.

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

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Ashley Davis
Ashley Davis

A tech enthusiast and productivity coach who writes about optimizing workflows and embracing digital tools for better living.