Meet the Weekend League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two triumph against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a stellar experienced side that have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the top level of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional silverware.

One Manchester team fields an amateur vets team with nine former top-flight players in their present roster.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier.

Their squad list this season features 9 former Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 elite matches.

This high-profile roster also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their last home game versus reigning champions their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Household Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Unreal Experience

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

"I think I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Jennifer Hall
Jennifer Hall

Lars van der Heijden is een ervaren logistiek expert met een passie voor optimalisatie en duurzame supply chain strategieën.