Discover the Weekend League Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you improve a excellent experienced squad that have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from 32 games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players that have competed at the elite level of club and global soccer as you target further trophies.

One Manchester side boasts an non-professional vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their current roster.

222 Premier League Goals, 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 features nine former Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.

This elite squad also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed 15 big trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 goals

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

"If 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 turn up and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back.

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

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

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

"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group 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 won the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 up and had a

Mary Smith
Mary Smith

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies across Europe.