Introduce the Weekend League Team With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets during a six-two win versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a stellar experienced team that have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have performed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for further silverware.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their active lineup.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this season features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite matches.

The elite squad also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances.

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

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen significant honors and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123m.

Famous Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side during preseason this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

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

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

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"Those spectators who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

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

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal guys.

"Now we can't wait for the second match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a

Jonathan Jackson
Jonathan Jackson

Elena Visser is a minimalist lifestyle coach and writer passionate about decluttering spaces and minds.