Discover this Weekend League Club With Over 1,800 Premier League Matches
What do you boost a excellent veteran side who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 games?
Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest tier of club football and global football as you pursue further honors.
A Manchester club fields an amateur vets squad with 9 former Premier League footballers in their present lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances
Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Division.
The roster this season boasts nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.
This high-profile roster also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.
The squad include Papiss Cisse, who notched thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.
Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.
The team for this season also features ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of around £123 million.
Household Names and International Players
Ireland began turning out for the side during preseason this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.
Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.
"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.
"Then he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!
"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?
"Those people who come and watch are happy and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."
Such is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.
"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"The running is what I'm after. It's good fun."
Unreal Feeling
In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for the opposition, came up against ex- Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.
Figueroa has appeared at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.
"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," said the player.
"I felt I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.
"Also Heskey got on and he's got over 60 English appearances.
"Our side held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.
"Our group literally have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.
"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.
"Now we can't wait for the return match."
We Will Still Take the Title'
Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans team, who won the Premier Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.
"We scored 1-0 up and had a