Introduce the Weekend Division Team Featuring 1,800 English Top Division Games
How do you enhance a stellar veteran side that have secured back-to-back titles, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?
Sign a collection of former pro players who have competed at the elite level of club and global football as you pursue additional trophies.
One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans team with nine ex- Premier League players in their active roster.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances
Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.
Their roster this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.
This elite roster also includes 222 top division scores and 325 international appearances.
The squad feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.
He made his first appearance for the team in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.
Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have secured fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123 million.
Famous Names and International Players
Ireland started playing for the team in preseason this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided game, to join in.
Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.
"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.
"After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue shirts - I say this is strange for me!
"If you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?
"The people who come and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."
Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.
"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.
"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Experience
In addition to the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game up front.
The team are leading of the Top Division with 3 wins from three and a GD of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.
Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games.
"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.
"I felt I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Even Heskey got on and he's has over 60 English caps.
"We competed well for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.
"We literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the way home.
"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.
"Now we can't wait for the return match."
We Will Still Take the Title'
The manager coaches the opposition vets team, who secured the Top Division championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.
"We went 1-0 up and had a