Meet the Weekend League Team With 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a six-two win versus their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a outstanding experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have played at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you target further trophies.

A Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division.

Their squad list this season boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite appearances.

The elite squad also boasts 222 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

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

Together, the former top-flight footballers have secured 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

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

Former Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for the club from 2016 and 2020

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

"After that he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those people who come and see are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at defender.

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

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

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

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

'Surreal Feeling

In addition to Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

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

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

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

"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Patrick Cummings
Patrick Cummings

Maya Chen is a tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on society.