π Share this article Meet the Weekend League Squad Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Games The substitutes for the team Veterans in a six-two victory against their opponents on October 19th (left to right) - one player, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey What can you improve a excellent veteran team that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games? Sign a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the elite tier of club and international football as you target additional honors. One Manchester club boasts an non-professional veterans team with nine ex- top-flight players in their current lineup. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 Global Appearances Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier. The roster this season boasts nine former top-flight players, with a collective nearly 1,800 elite games. The star-studded roster also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances. The squad include Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012. Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - featuring a half-hour opening period hat-trick. Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Together, the ex- Premier League players have won 15 major trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of approximately Β£123m. Well-Known Figures and International Stars Stephen Ireland earned 6 Irish caps, scoring 4 goals Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this summer through good friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate. Former Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform. He played for Everton from 2016 and 2020 "My friend Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse. "After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me! "When you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "The spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course." So great is the bench strength at the club, Niasse made his debut at full-back. "It's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - 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 good fun." Ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe 'Surreal Scenario Along with the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker. Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of +19. One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young boy who Heskey was. Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred Premier League matches. "The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player. "I think I was a bit starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English caps. "We held our own for a good twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard. "We really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home. "They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we are eager for the second fixture." 'We'll Still Win the Title' The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire. "Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a