Discover the Weekend Division Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a excellent experienced squad who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of former pro players that have played at the highest level of club football and global football as you aim for additional silverware.

One Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Tier.

The roster this season features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite matches.

The high-profile squad also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field match against defending title holders their rivals and netted all six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured fifteen major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"The people who turn up and watch are happy and to give a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

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

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

"The running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

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

"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Top Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Robert Anderson MD
Robert Anderson MD

Lena van der Meer is a seasoned journalist covering local news and culture in Zwolle, with a passion for community storytelling.