Introduce the Weekend Division Team Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Games

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
The substitutes for the team Veterans during a 6-2 victory versus their opponents on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a stellar veteran side that have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Bring in a group of former pro players who have played at the top level of club football and global soccer as you target further honors.

A Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans team with 9 ex- top-flight players in their current roster.

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

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Division.

Their lineup this season boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The star-studded squad also includes over 220 top division scores and over 320 global caps.

The squad feature one forward, who scored 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured 15 big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Well-Known Names and International Players

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won six Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four goals

Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's good fun'," said the striker.

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

"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who come and watch are pleased and to give a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at full-back.

"It's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

'Surreal Feeling

Along with the forward's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight players," said Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

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

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Win the League'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a

Melvin Lee
Melvin Lee

A futurist and tech enthusiast exploring emerging technologies and their impact on society.