Introduce this Sunday Division Club Featuring 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

How do you boost a outstanding experienced team who have secured back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Sign a group of former professionals that have performed at the highest level of club and international football as you aim for additional silverware.

A Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight players in their current squad.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Tier.

Their roster this season boasts nine former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League appearances.

The elite team also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match against defending champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

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

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured 15 big honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Stars

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

Ireland started turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through close friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.

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

"My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he told me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to give a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."

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

"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

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

One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over two hundred top-flight matches.

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

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.

"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division title last season, along with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a

Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in reviewing online casinos and developing strategic betting insights for UK players.