Discover this Weekend Division Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for the team Veterans during a six-two win versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a outstanding experienced team who have claimed back-to-back championships, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 games?

Sign a collection of former professionals who have performed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you aim for more trophies.

A Manchester team boasts an amateur vets team with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

The team Vets Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Division.

Their roster this season boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 top-flight games.

This star-studded roster also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Stars

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

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

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

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those spectators who come and see are pleased and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his debut at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Erik Nguyen
Erik Nguyen

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and emerging technologies across Europe.