Meet the Weekend League Team Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 win against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a stellar veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have played at the top tier of club football and global football as you pursue more trophies.

One Manchester side fields an amateur veterans team with 9 former top-flight players in their current lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

Their lineup this season includes nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight matches.

The high-profile squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Household Names and International Stars

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

Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say 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?

"The spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

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

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

"Our side competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"Our group really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Donald Elliott
Donald Elliott

A passionate educator and writer dedicated to sharing innovative learning techniques and fostering growth in diverse fields.