Discover this Weekend Division Team With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches

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

How do you boost a stellar veteran team that have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a group of former pro players that have competed at the elite tier of club football and international football as you aim for more trophies.

A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans team with nine former top-flight players in their present roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective 1,801 Premier League matches.

This elite squad also includes 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

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

In total, the former Premier League players have secured 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and Global Players

Stephen Ireland in action
He won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring 4 scores

Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this summer through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
He played for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

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

"If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give a moment if they watch us competing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he had his first game at defender.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go 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 keep attacking.

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a

Charles Fisher
Charles Fisher

A fashion historian and style consultant with a passion for blending classic aesthetics with contemporary trends.