Discover the Weekend League Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Vets during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you improve a outstanding veteran team that have won consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue further trophies.

One Manchester side boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

The squad list this season features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite games.

The high-profile roster also boasts 222 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

The squad include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The team for this season also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen major honors and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals

Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal striker Niasse, who scored twelve goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"Then he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a

Aaron Garrett
Aaron Garrett

A tech enthusiast and business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and startup consulting.