Discover the Weekend League Team Featuring 1,800 Premier League Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The bench for the team Veterans in a 6-2 win against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What do you boost a excellent experienced side who have won back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have competed at the top tier of club and global football as you target more trophies.

One Manchester side boasts an amateur vets team with nine ex- top-flight players in their present lineup.

222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over 35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

The roster this season features nine former top-flight footballers, with a collective 1,801 Premier League games.

This high-profile team also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.

They include one forward, who scored 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their last home-field match versus defending champions their rivals and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 big trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Irish appearances, netting 4 scores

Ireland started turning out for the side in preseason this season through good friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"Then he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

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

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

"The running is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe

Dreamlike' Feeling

Along with Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match as a striker.

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

One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.

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

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Division title last season, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil up and had a

Scott Thomas
Scott Thomas

An avid hiker and nature writer sharing personal journeys and eco-friendly tips from trails around the world.