🔗 Share this article Meet this Weekend Division Squad Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Appearances This bench for the team Vets during a six-two win against their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey What do you boost a excellent experienced team that have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two matches? Sign a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the elite tier of club and international soccer as you aim for additional honors. A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present squad. 222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division. Their roster this campaign features 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League matches. The elite roster also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 global appearances. They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012. He had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home game against reigning title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period triple. Wythenshawe's team for this season also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen big honors and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123m. Well-Known Figures and International Players He won six Irish caps, scoring four goals Stephen Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to participate. Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip. Oumar Niasse played for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said Niasse. "After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me! "If you still enjoy football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "Those fans who come and see are pleased and to make a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course." Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at defender. "That's a little different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added. "I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running. "That movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe Dreamlike' Scenario Along with Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front. Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with three victories from three and a goal difference of +19. One opponent, 38, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was. He has played at two global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 top-flight matches. "It was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow. "I think I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest. "Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England appearances. "Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard. "We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home. "The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we are eager for the second fixture." We Will Still Take the League' Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Top Tier championship last season, together with his co-manager. "Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a