Meet this Weekend League Club Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you enhance a outstanding veteran squad that have won back-to-back titles, including a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Sign a collection of ex- professionals who have competed at the highest tier of club and global football as you target more honors.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their active squad.

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

The team Vets Over-35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.

Their roster this season features 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 elite games.

The star-studded team also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.

They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have claimed 15 big trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
He earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through good friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

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

"Those people who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

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

Unreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

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

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

"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

We Will Still Win the League'

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

"Our team went one-nil up and had a

James Haynes
James Haynes

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