Introduce the Sunday League Club Boasting 1,800 Top-Flight Matches
What do you boost a stellar veteran squad that have claimed consecutive titles, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two matches?
Bring in a group of former pro players who have played at the top tier of club and global football as you aim for additional trophies.
One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League players in their present squad.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Caps
Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.
The squad list this campaign features 9 former Premier League players, with a collective nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.
This star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.
They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse made his debut for the team in their last home-field match against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.
The roster for this season also features former pros such as England and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have won 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer sums of around £123m.
Famous Figures and International Stars
Ireland began turning out for the side in pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.
Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton training kit as their strip.
"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented the striker.
"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!
"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?
"Those fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."
So great is the squad depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.
"That's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"The movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Scenario
In addition to Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for the side, while Boyd scored 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.
The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.
He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.
"The news was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.
"I think I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Also Heskey came on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.
"Our side competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.
"Our group literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.
"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular fellas.
"Now we are eager for the return match."
We Will Still Win the Title'
Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.
"Our team scored one-nil up and had a