Discover this Weekend League Club With Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for Wythenshawe Vets in a six-two victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent experienced squad that have won back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a group of former professionals that have competed at the top level of club football and global football as you aim for more silverware.

One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with nine former top-flight players in their active squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Vets Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Tier.

The squad list this campaign features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight games.

This star-studded squad also boasts over 220 top division scores and 325 global caps.

They feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for the team in their last home match versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this season also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight players have claimed 15 major honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, netting 4 goals

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Blue training kit as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who turn up and see are happy and to give a moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at defender.

"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

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

"I think I was a bit starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English caps.

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

"We literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil up and had a

Katherine Franco
Katherine Franco

A seasoned lottery analyst with a passion for decoding patterns and helping players maximize their winning potential.