Discover this Weekend League Club With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches

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

What do you boost a outstanding experienced side that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Bring in a raft of ex- pro players who have played at the top level of club football and global football as you aim for further silverware.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their roster this season includes 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 elite games.

This high-profile roster also includes 222 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

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

In total, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and International Stars

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

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

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

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

"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the strength in depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.

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

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

"The movement is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.

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

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

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

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Savannah Maxwell
Savannah Maxwell

A positivity coach and fortune enthusiast who shares daily wisdom on harnessing luck through mindful practices.