🔗 Share this article Meet this Weekend League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Games The substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets in a 6-2 victory versus Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you enhance a excellent veteran squad that have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches? Sign a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you target more silverware. A Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active lineup. 222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in south the city and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Division. Their roster this campaign boasts nine former Premier League players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight appearances. The elite squad also includes over 220 top division goals and 325 international caps. They include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012. He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match against defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick. Wythenshawe's squad for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger 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 former Premier League footballers have secured fifteen major honors and transferred for total transfer sums of about £123 million. Well-Known Names and Global Players Stephen Ireland earned 6 Republic of Ireland caps, scoring four scores Ireland started playing for the side during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in. Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform. He featured for the club from 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 the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me! "When you still love football and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "The spectators who come and watch are pleased and to make a day if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course." Such is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back. "It's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "That movement is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable." Former Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for the team 'Surreal Scenario In addition to the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one game up front. Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from 3 and a GD of +19. One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was. He has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League matches. "The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player. "I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England caps. "We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard. "Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home. "The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular guys. "Now we are eager for the second match." 'We'll Still Take the League' The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager. "Our team scored one-nil up and had a