Meet the Weekend League Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Premier League Matches
How do you boost a outstanding veteran squad who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty wins from 32 games?
Recruit a raft of former professionals who have competed at the top tier of club and international soccer as you aim for further silverware.
One Manchester club has an amateur vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their present squad.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps
Wythenshawe Vets Over-35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Premier Tier.
Their lineup this campaign features 9 former Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 top-flight games.
This star-studded roster also includes over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 international caps.
The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse had his debut for the team in their last home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a 6-2 win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's roster for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured 15 major trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.
Well-Known Names and Global Stars
Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.
Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.
"My mate Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.
"After that he told me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!
"If you still love 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 watch are happy and to give a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."
Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his first game at defender.
"That's a little different but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"That running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Scenario
Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from three and a goal difference of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the flank for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in more than two hundred top-flight matches.
"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.
"I think I was a bit awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.
"We held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was hard.
"Our group literally haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the journey home.
"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular guys.
"Now we are eager for the return fixture."
'We'll Still Win the Title'
The manager coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Tier title last season, together with Paul Maguire.
"We went 1-0 ahead and had a