Former Premier League winner with Man Utd joins star-studded non-league side

Martin Macdonald

• 6 Apr 2026 12:01 CDT
• 3 min read

News

Non-league Wythenshawe Vets have announced another glamorous ex-pro signing.

The club are based around Cheshire where a number of ex-footballers live and a number of them have turned out for the club recently.

Their 2025/26 squad includes George Boyd, Papiss Cisse, Danny Drinkwater, Maynor Figueroa, Stephen Ireland, Jefferson Montero, Emile Heskey, Joleon Lescott, Oumar Niasse and Nedum Onuoha.

Now, they have another Premier League winner in their ranks as former Manchester United star Antonio Valencia has joined.

"We're proud to welcome Premier League winner, Antonio Valencia to Wythenshawe Vets," the club said in a post to social media on Sunday.

"A Manchester United legend. Title winner. Now wearing our badge. Welcome to the club, Antonio!"

While at United, Valencia won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, three Community Shields and one Europa League. He is still only 40 which makes it even more remarkable that the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are still playing close to or into their 40s professionally.

Wayne Rooney has previously indicated a desire to feature for Wythenshawe Vets.

The England and Man Utd legend has performed in charity matches such as SoccerAid, but the Daily Mail previously reported he could return to competitive action with the non-league Over 35s side.

Stephen Ireland, previously of Manchester City and Stoke, says numerous ex-players have reached out to ask for a game:

"My phone hasn't stopped! I've got people going, 'how do I get involved, how do I sign up?' I just want to be wary of not bringing too many people, because I want it to be a mix of the proper old vets with maybe four or five pros each time. But it is great fun, even as an incentive during the week to prepare for it. That's what it's like now."

Papiss Cisse comedy

In November, Wythenshawe Vets went viral after Papiss Cisse missed a penalty, then missed the rebound then hit the resulting corner-kick straight into he side-netting.

He was laughing to himself at the misfortune and the clip subsequently went viral on social media.

What many viewers didn't see, however, was that the former Newcastle striker went on to score six second-half goals as Wythenshawe Vets won 13-0.

Ex Newcastle striker Papiss Cissé scored 7 goals in 1 half of football for Wythenshaw vets FC😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/dQKuRJXRtr

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) November 10, 2025

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