Discover this Sunday Division Squad Boasting Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances
How do you improve a stellar veteran squad that have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two games?
Recruit a group of ex- pro players who have competed at the top level of club and global football as you pursue more trophies.
A Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active roster.
222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps
Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.
Their lineup this season includes nine former top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League games.
This star-studded team also includes 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global caps.
They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in January 2012.
He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home game against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a half-hour first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the former top-flight footballers have claimed 15 big trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.
Household Names and Global Stars
Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this season through close friend and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.
Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their uniform.
"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.
"Then he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!
"If you still love football and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?
"The people who come and see are pleased and to make a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."
So great is the strength in depth at the club, he had his debut at full-back.
"That's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.
"That running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."
Dreamlike' Experience
In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.
One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.
"It was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.
"I felt I was a bit starstruck facing him to be honest.
"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 England caps.
"We competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.
"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.
"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular guys.
"Now we can't wait for the return match."
We Will Still Take the League'
The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who secured the Top Division championship last season, along with his co-manager.
"We scored 1-0 up and had a