🔗 Share this article Introduce this Weekend Division Team Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Games The bench for Wythenshawe Vets during a 6-2 win versus their opponents on October 19th (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How do you enhance a stellar veteran squad who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 matches? Recruit a raft of ex- pro players who have played at the highest level of club and global football as you target additional honors. A Manchester team boasts an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Appearances The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Division. The lineup this campaign includes nine ex- top-flight players, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight appearances. The high-profile squad also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances. The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012. Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and scored all six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple. Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the former top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million. Household Figures and International Stars He won 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting four goals Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in. Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip. Oumar Niasse featured for the club from 2016 and 2020 "My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and play, it's good fun'," commented the striker. "Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me! "When you still love football and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose? "The fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with structure of course." Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back. "It's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added. "I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running. "That running is what I'm looking for. It's good fun." Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for Wythenshawe 'Surreal Scenario In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match up front. Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19. Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was. He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches. "It was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player. "I think I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 English caps. "We held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough. "We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home. "The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we can't wait for the second fixture." 'We'll Still Win the League' Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager. "Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a