Introduce this Weekend League Squad Boasting 1,800 Premier League Appearances
How can you boost a stellar experienced side that have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph with 30 wins from thirty-two games?
Recruit a group of former pro players who have performed at the highest tier of club football and international soccer as you pursue additional silverware.
One Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their current squad.
222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps
Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.
The lineup this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 top-flight appearances.
The star-studded team also includes 222 Premier League goals and over 320 international appearances.
The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home game versus reigning champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.
The squad for this season also features ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the former top-flight players have won fifteen big honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123 million.
Household Figures and Global Stars
Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.
Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.
"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.
"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!
"If you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?
"The people who come and see are happy and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."
Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.
"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.
"The running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Experience
Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one match as a striker.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.
He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.
"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.
"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.
"Our side competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.
"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.
"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.
"Now we can't wait for the second match."
'We'll Still Take the League'
Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Premier Division title the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.
"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a