🔗 Share this article Introduce this Weekend Division Team Boasting 1,800 English Top Division Appearances The bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 triumph versus their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey What do you enhance a outstanding veteran squad that have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches? Sign a group of former pro players who have performed at the top tier of club and international soccer as you aim for further honors. One Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current roster. 222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division. The squad list this season includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 Premier League games. This star-studded squad also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 international caps. They include one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012. He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick. Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123m. Famous Figures and Global Stars He earned six Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four scores Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate. Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform. Oumar Niasse featured for the club from 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse. "Then he told me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me! "When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose? "The fans who turn up and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course." Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse had his debut at full-back. "It's a little different but then, I love running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking. "That running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team Unreal Experience In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a triple in one game up front. Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen. Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was. He has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League games. "The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," remarked the player. "I think I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest. "Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd English appearances. "Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard. "Our group literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home. "They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of normal fellas. "Now we are eager for the second fixture." We Will Still Take the League' The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager. "We went 1-0 ahead and had a