Meet this Weekend League Team With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you improve a stellar experienced team who have won consecutive titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Bring in a collection of ex- pro players that have played at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional silverware.

A Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans team with nine ex- top-flight players in their present squad.

222 Premier League Goals, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Premier Tier.

Their lineup this season includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.

The star-studded squad also includes over 220 top division scores and 325 international caps.

They include one forward, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against defending title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's team for this season also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have won 15 big trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring 4 goals

Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed 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 wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those people who come and see are pleased and to make a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

Unreal Feeling

In addition to the forward's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

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

"Even Heskey got on and he's got over 60 England caps.

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

"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

We Will Still Take the League'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Top Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a

Jessica Zavala
Jessica Zavala

A tech enthusiast and writer with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and digital innovations.

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