🔗 Share this article Discover this Weekend League Club Featuring Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Appearances The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets during a six-two victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you improve a excellent experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches? Recruit a raft of ex- pro players that have competed at the top tier of club and global football as you target more silverware. One Greater Manchester team has an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their active squad. 222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier. Their lineup this season features nine former Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight games. This elite roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances. The squad include one forward, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012. He made his first appearance for the team in their last home-field game versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick. The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won fifteen significant trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million. Famous Names and International Stars He won six Irish appearances, scoring four goals Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good friend and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate. Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their strip. Oumar Niasse featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse. "After that he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - 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 spectators who come and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course." So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender. "It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "That running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun." Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team 'Surreal Scenario Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front. Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen. One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was. Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 Premier League matches. "The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player. "I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd English caps. "Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough. "Our group really have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home. "They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we can't wait for the return match." We Will Still Take the Title' The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire. "Our team scored 1-0 up and had a