Discover this Weekend Division Squad Boasting 1,800 Premier League Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets in a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent experienced team who have won consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest level of club and international football as you pursue more honors.

A Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans team with nine ex- Premier League players in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

The roster this season boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League games.

This high-profile squad also boasts over 220 Premier League 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 SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have secured fifteen major honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought 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 do?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse had his debut at defender.

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League games.

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

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

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

"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Michelle Crawford
Michelle Crawford

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in the UK casino industry, specializing in slot mechanics and player safety.