Introduce this Weekend Division Team Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a stellar experienced team that have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- pro players who have performed at the top level of club football and global football as you target further trophies.

One Manchester club boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine former Premier League players in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.

Their roster this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 elite appearances.

This high-profile squad also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against reigning champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

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

In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for the club from 2016 and 2020

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

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

"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to give a day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at defender.

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

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

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

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

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"We really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother 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 guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Sheila Whitaker
Sheila Whitaker

A seasoned gaming journalist with over a decade of experience covering UK casinos and slot machines, passionate about industry trends.