Sunday League matchgoers at Wythenshawe FC Vets have been left stunned as a host of former Premier League stars, including Joleon Lescott, have been turning out for the ninth-tier side.
Lescott, the former Manchester City and England defender, recently scored a hat-trick for the team competing in the Cheshire Veterans Football League – eight years after hanging up his boots.
They say age is just a number, and Lescott, along with his ex-City teammates Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha, as well as former Burnley midfielder George Boyd, have been proving just that.
Wythenshawe FC Vets have been racking up their goal difference to cement their position at the top of the league in recent games, currently sitting nine points and 19 goals ahead of second-placed South Liverpool, who have six points and a goal difference of three.
This surge has come since the arrival of the ex-professionals, who collectively boast 822 Premier League appearances, to the over-35 side.
Wythenshawe recently thrashed Radcliffe FC Old Boys 10-1 in a game that saw Boyd find the back of the net five times, Ireland four and Lescott – who has been reborn as a striker – also getting in on the act.
A picture of the Wythenshawe FC Vets bench showed Emile Heskey (far right), Maynor Figueroa (second from right), Papiss Cisse (second from left) and Oumar Niasse (far left)
Stephen Ireland, Cisse and Joleon Lescott during their Premier League playing days
In another 7-1 win over AFC Monton, Ireland bagged another four, while Lescott scored another hat-trick.
Lescott, who has 26 caps for England, recently discussed his heroics with Wythenshawe FC on the In the Mixer podcast, adding that he is enjoying ‘being able to run around’.
Lescott said: ‘Over 35s, I’m a striker, 10k I did yesterday (in the game).
‘Two poachers goals to be fair, I recognised when the danger was and the other one, I forced the error.
‘For the level, I can press quite intensely, the defender went to pass back, hit it short and I went around the goalie.’
Legendary sports commentator Martin Tyler added: ‘This is an exclusive, this is something that should be making headline news: “Joleon Lescott hat-trick”.’
Ireland, Boyd and Lescott have a stunning 17 goals between them in the division, placing all three among the top scorers – with Ireland topping the charts with eight goals in two games.
Former Chelsea and Leicester star, Danny Drinkwater, is registered with the side but is yet to make an appearance.
The side even uploaded a video of Ireland scoring a stunning, bending free-kick against AFC Monton a couple of weeks ago.
And most recently, former Newcastle star Papis Cisse netted all six in Wythenshawe’s 6-2 defeat of Collegiate Old Boys.
Unsurprisingly, fans have caught on, urging others to watch them play, with one writing on X: ‘Wythenshawe FC Vets. Wow. What a team and well worth a watch Sunday mornings.’
Another fan uploaded a picture of himself watching Lescott and co pitchside and said: ‘A few familiar faces playing for Wythenshawe Vets team this morning.’
Darron Gibson has also turned out for Wythenshawe FC’s senior squad in a 3-1 win over AFC Liverpool in September for his only appearance so far. v
The answer to why so many ex-Premier League stars have flocked to Wythensawe FC Vets is partly due to the fact that so many of them still reside in nearby Cheshire’s ‘golden triangle’.
The area – which is less than 10 miles away from Wythenshawe – is comprised of Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Prestbury and is sometimes called the ‘footballer belt’, where the house prices are among the highest in the region.
These are largely driven by luxury properties and high-profile residents, with footballers playing at Liverpool, Everton and the Manchester clubs enjoying the exclusivity of the area.
In the past couple of years many of the UK’s other high-value real estate locations – including most of central London and the Cornish coast, the Cotswolds and North Norfolk – have seen prices fall due to higher interest rates and economic and political uncertainty.
But, according to the UK House Price Index, average sale prices across Cheshire’s ‘golden circle’ – which counts Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Jordan Pickford among its residents – increased by 10.7 per cent in the past year.
Foden earlier this year sold his Prestbury mansion for £3million, moving to a quieter home in the Cheshire countryside after police were reportedly called due to complaints over a late-night kids party.
