Meet the Weekend League Team Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

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

How can you improve a stellar experienced team that have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from 32 matches?

Recruit a collection of former professionals who have performed at the elite level of club and international football as you target further silverware.

A Manchester club has an amateur vets team with 9 former top-flight footballers in their present lineup.

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

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Division.

The roster this campaign includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.

The high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 international caps.

The squad include one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus defending champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen major trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Well-Known Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish appearances, netting four goals

Ireland began turning out for the team in preseason this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

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

"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those spectators who come and see are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his debut at defender.

"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched 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.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.

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

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

"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

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

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Kristie Rogers
Kristie Rogers

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in the UK casino industry, specializing in game reviews and betting strategies.