🔗 Share this article Meet this Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Matches The substitutes for the team Veterans during a six-two 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 How do you enhance a stellar veteran squad who have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 matches? Sign a group of ex- pro players who have played at the top level of club and global football as you target further silverware. A Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their present squad. 222 Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Tier. Their squad list this campaign includes nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined nearly 1,800 elite matches. This high-profile roster also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global caps. They feature one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in January 2012. Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game against defending champions their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick. The squad for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. In total, the former top-flight players have won 15 significant trophies and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m. Famous Names and International Stars He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, scoring four goals Stephen Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this summer through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to participate. Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue training kit as their uniform. He featured for the club from 2016 and 2020 "A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's good fun'," said the striker. "Then he informed me we were facing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me! "When you still enjoy football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to do? "Those spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course." So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back. "It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just move forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking. "That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe Unreal Experience In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front. Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19. One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches. "It was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player. "I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest. "Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances. "We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard. "Our group really have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home. "They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of normal guys. "Now we can't wait for the second match." We Will Still Take the League' Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager. "Our team went 1-0 up and had a