Introduce the Weekend Division Club Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you enhance a outstanding veteran side that have claimed back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of ex- professionals who have competed at the elite level of club football and global soccer as you aim for further honors.

One Manchester side fields an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their present squad.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Appearances

The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.

Their squad list this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 Premier League matches.

The high-profile roster also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and 325 global caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features former professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have secured 15 major trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland caps, netting 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

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

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred Premier League games.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Premier Division title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a

Brian Dunlap
Brian Dunlap

Lotte is een ervaren reisblogger en oprichter van Smart Deals Leiden. Ze deelt wekelijks de beste reisdeals.

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