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

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This substitutes for the team Vets in a six-two victory against their opponents 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 veteran team that have won consecutive titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two games?

Recruit a collection of ex- pro players that have competed at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.

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

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Top Division.

Their squad list this campaign includes nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined 1,801 Premier League matches.

The elite team also contains 222 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game against reigning champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight players have won 15 big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland earned six Irish caps, scoring four goals

Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

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

"A mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!

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

"Those people who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

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

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

Maynor Figueroa in action
Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team

'Surreal Scenario

Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.

"I felt I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 England appearances.

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

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

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

"Now we are eager for the second fixture."

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Premier Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a

Mary Mcguire
Mary Mcguire

Mikael Voss is a seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos, specializing in slot game reviews and betting strategies.