Introduce this Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes 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

How can you improve a stellar veteran squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you target further trophies.

A Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their active roster.

222 Top Division Scores, 325 Global Appearances

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

Their roster this season includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total over 1,800 Premier League games.

This star-studded roster also includes 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

The team for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this summer through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

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

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

"It's a little different but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with the forward's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 England caps.

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

"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Robert Shepard
Robert Shepard

A clinical psychologist with over 10 years of experience, passionate about making mental health accessible through engaging content.