🔗 Share this article Meet this Weekend Division Team Featuring 1,800 Premier League Games The bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - one player, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey What do you boost a stellar experienced squad that have secured back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with 30 victories from 32 matches? Recruit a group of former professionals who have performed at the highest level of club and international football as you pursue additional trophies. A Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current squad. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Division. The lineup this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight footballers, with a combined 1,801 top-flight games. This star-studded squad also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances. The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league side SC Freiburg in 2012. Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their last home-field match against defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple. The roster for this campaign also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 major honors and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m. Household Names and Global Players Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish caps, netting 4 goals Ireland started turning out for the side during preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in. Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform. Oumar Niasse featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented Niasse. "Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue 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? "Those people who turn up and see are happy and to give someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course." Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his debut at full-back. "That's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said. "I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking. "The movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team Dreamlike' Feeling In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front. The team are top of the Premier Division with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen. One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 top-flight matches. "It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow. "I think I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest. "Also Heskey got on and he's got over 60 English appearances. "Our side held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough. "We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home. "The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys. "Now we can't wait for the return fixture." We Will Still Win the Title' Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets team, who won the Premier Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire. "We went 1-0 up and had a