🔗 Share this article Introduce this Sunday Division Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Games This bench for Wythenshawe Veterans during a 6-2 triumph against their opponents on 19 October (from left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, Marcel Edwards, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How can you enhance a excellent veteran squad that have claimed back-to-back titles, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 games? Recruit a raft of ex- professionals that have played at the elite tier of club and global soccer as you target more honors. A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional vets team with nine former top-flight footballers in their current roster. 222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Tier. The roster this campaign boasts nine former top-flight players, with a combined nearly 1,800 Premier League games. The high-profile squad also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances. They include Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012. He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick. The squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. In total, the ex- Premier League players have secured fifteen big trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of around £123 million. Famous Figures and International Players He earned 6 Republic of Ireland appearances, netting 4 scores Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this summer through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate. Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Blue training kit as their strip. Oumar Niasse featured for the club from 2016 and 2020 "A friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse. "Then he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them wearing Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me! "When you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose? "Those spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course." Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back. "That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said. "I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking. "That movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is turning out for the team 'Surreal Experience In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, scored a triple in one match up front. Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen. One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight games. "The news was going round like a rumor they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow. "I think I was a bit awestruck playing against him to be honest. "Even Heskey got on and he's got 60-odd England appearances. "Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough. "We literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the way home. "The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal guys. "Now we are eager for the second fixture." We Will Still Win the Title' The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire. "Our team scored 1-0 up and had a