Introduce this Weekend Division Team With 1,800 English Top Division Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Vets during a six-two win against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How can you enhance a excellent experienced side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a raft of ex- professionals who have played at the elite level of club and international football as you target additional trophies.

A Manchester side boasts an amateur vets team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Tier.

Their squad list this season features nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite games.

The high-profile squad also boasts over 220 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad include one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their last home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

The squad for this season also includes former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have claimed 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this season through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just go 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 attacking.

"The running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Top Division title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a

Rebecca Miller
Rebecca Miller

A seasoned gaming analyst with a passion for uncovering the latest trends in online casinos and sharing actionable advice.