🔗 Share this article Meet the Weekend League Squad With Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Games This substitutes for Wythenshawe Veterans in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on 19 October (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, another, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you enhance a stellar experienced squad that have won back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games? Bring in a collection of former professionals that have competed at the elite level of club and international football as you target further honors. One Manchester club boasts an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their current lineup. 222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances The team Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Division. Their squad list this campaign includes 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 Premier League matches. The star-studded team also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and 325 international caps. They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in January 2012. He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick. 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 forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. In total, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer sums of approximately £123 million. Well-Known Names and Global Stars He earned six Irish caps, netting 4 scores Stephen Ireland started playing for the side in pre-season this summer through close mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in. Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform. Oumar Niasse played for the club from 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker. "After that he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me! "When you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose? "Those fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course." So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back. "It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "The movement is what I'm after. It's good fun." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe Unreal Scenario Along with the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game as a striker. Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen. One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was. Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches. "The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow. "I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances. "We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough. "Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home. "They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas. "Now we can't wait for the second match." 'We'll Still Win the League' The manager manages the opposition vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title last season, along with Paul Maguire. "Our team went one-nil up and had a