Discover this Weekend League Squad With Over 1,800 Top-Flight Matches
How do you improve a outstanding veteran squad that have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games?
Sign a collection of ex- pro players that have competed at the elite level of club football and international soccer as you pursue further honors.
One Greater Manchester side boasts an non-professional vets team with 9 former Premier League players in their current lineup.
222 Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps
Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.
Their roster this campaign features nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.
The elite roster also boasts over 220 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.
The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period hat-trick.
The roster for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of around £123m.
Famous Names and International Players
Ireland began turning out for the side in preseason this season through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.
Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.
"My mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.
"After that he told me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton kits - 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 choose?
"The people who come and see are happy and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."
So great is the squad depth at the club, he had his debut at defender.
"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.
"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Feeling
Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.
"It was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," said the player.
"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England caps.
"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.
"We really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the way home.
"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.
"Now we can't wait for the return fixture."
We Will Still Win the League'
Andy Kirby coaches the opposition vets side, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.
"We went 1-0 ahead and had a