Meet the Weekend League Club Boasting Over 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances
How can you boost a excellent veteran squad that have claimed back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two games?
Recruit a group of former pro players that have competed at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you aim for more trophies.
A Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League players in their active roster.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances
Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.
Their roster this campaign boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight matches.
This elite roster also contains 222 Premier League scores and over 320 international appearances.
They feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league side SC Freiburg in January 2012.
Cisse made his first appearance for the team in their last home game versus defending champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour opening period triple.
Wythenshawe's roster for this season also features former pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have won fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.
Famous Names and Global Stars
Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during pre-season this season through good friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.
Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 top-flight games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.
"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join 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 wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!
"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?
"Those people who come and watch are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."
Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.
"That's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not staying back that much," he said.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.
"That running is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
Unreal Feeling
Along with the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one match up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.
"It was going round like wildfire they had these former top-flight stars," remarked Barrow.
"I think I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England caps.
"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.
"Our group really have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother 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 are eager for the second fixture."
'We'll Still Win the Title'
The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.
"Our team scored 1-0 up and had a