ð Share this article Meet this Sunday Division Team With Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances This substitutes for Wythenshawe Vets in a six-two victory against Collegiate Old Boys on October 19th (left to right) - Oumar Niasse, Papiss Cisse, a teammate, Blake Norton, Maynor Figueroa, Dean Warburton and Emile Heskey How can you enhance a outstanding veteran side who have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 victories from 32 games? Recruit a raft of former pro players who have competed at the highest tier of club and global soccer as you aim for more silverware. A Greater Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans squad with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their present roster. Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Top Division. Their roster this season includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total nearly 1,800 elite matches. The star-studded squad also includes 222 top division scores and over 320 global appearances. The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for ÂĢ9m from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012. He had his first appearance for the team in their last home game against defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour opening period triple. Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former pros such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater. Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have won 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around ÂĢ123m. Household Names and Global Stars He won six Irish caps, scoring 4 scores Ireland began playing for the side during pre-season this season through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in. Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 top-flight games for Everton and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their uniform. He featured for Everton between 2016 and 2020 "My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse. "Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me! "If you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do? "The spectators who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course." So great is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at full-back. "That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go 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 running. "The running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable." Ex- Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa is playing for Wythenshawe Dreamlike' Scenario In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker. The team are leading of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19. Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was. He has played at two World Cups for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League games. "It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player. "I think I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest. "Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England appearances. "Our side held our own for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough. "We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home. "They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas. "Now we can't wait for the second fixture." 'We'll Still Win the Title' The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire. "Our team scored one-nil up and had a