Introduce the Weekend League Team With 1,800 English Top Division Matches

Wythenshawe Vets bench during a match
This bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey

What can you boost a outstanding experienced team that have secured consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a raft of ex- professionals who have performed at the top tier of club football and global soccer as you target further trophies.

A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

Their squad list this campaign includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight games.

The elite squad also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 global caps.

They feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game against reigning title holders their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

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

Collectively, the former Premier League footballers have claimed 15 major honors and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.

Famous Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland in action
Stephen Ireland won 6 Republic of Ireland caps, netting four scores

Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this summer through good friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.

Ex- Senegal forward Oumar Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.

Oumar Niasse playing for Everton
Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020

"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," said the striker.

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

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

"Those spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

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

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

"That running is what I'm after. It's good fun."

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

Dreamlike' Experience

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Tier with 3 victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight matches.

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

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

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

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

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

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the opposition vets side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team went one-nil ahead and had a

Jared May
Jared May

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