🔗 Share this article Introduce this Weekend Division Squad With Over 1,800 Premier League Appearances This bench for the team Vets in a 6-2 victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey What do you improve a excellent veteran team who have won back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from thirty-two matches? Bring in a collection of former pro players that have performed at the elite level of club football and global football as you aim for more silverware. One Greater Manchester side has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight players in their current lineup. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances The team Veterans Over-35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division. The roster this season boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 Premier League appearances. This high-profile squad also boasts 222 top division scores and 325 global appearances. They feature Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012. Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick. Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also features ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back 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 footballers have won 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of about £123 million. Well-Known Figures and International Stars Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish appearances, netting four scores Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during pre-season this summer through good friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to participate. Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform. Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "A mate Stephen told me 'join and have a game, it's a laugh'," said the striker. "After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me! "If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "Those fans who come and see are happy and to make a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course." So great is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at full-back. "It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move forward - 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 continue running. "The running is what I'm after. It's good fun." Former Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe 'Surreal Experience Along with Cisse's six goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game up front. The team are top of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen. One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games. "It was going round like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player. "I think I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd England caps. "We held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough. "Our group really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home. "They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal guys. "Now we are eager for the return match." We Will Still Win the Title' Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, together with his co-manager. "Our team went one-nil ahead and had a