🔗 Share this article Discover the Sunday Division Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Games This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two win versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How can you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches? Recruit a group of ex- pro players who have competed at the highest tier of club football and international soccer as you pursue further silverware. A Greater Manchester club has an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their current squad. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps The team Vets Over 35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Division. Their roster this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches. This high-profile roster also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances. They include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012. Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick. Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen big honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million. Household Names and International Stars He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in. Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip. He played for the club from 2016 and 2020 "A friend Stephen told me 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse. "After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me! "If you still love football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "The spectators who come and see are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course." Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his debut at defender. "That's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added. "I tell my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "The running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe Unreal Experience In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game up front. The team are top of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen. Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches. "It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow. "I felt I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England appearances. "Our side competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough. "We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home. "The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of normal fellas. "Now we can't wait for the second match." 'We'll Still Take the League' Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with his co-manager. "Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a