Introduce the Weekend League Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a stellar veteran squad who have won back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Recruit a group of former pro players that have competed at the highest tier of club football and global football as you pursue more trophies.

One Manchester side has an non-professional vets squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their present squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their roster this season boasts 9 former top-flight footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The high-profile team also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker 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 ex- top-flight players have won 15 major honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Irish appearances, netting four scores

Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this summer through close mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!

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

"The spectators who come and watch are happy and to give a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

"That's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than two hundred Premier League matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

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

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

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Christopher Hawkins
Christopher Hawkins

A seasoned property analyst with over a decade of experience in UK real estate markets, specializing in investment strategies and market forecasting.