Meet this Sunday League Squad Featuring Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Games
How do you improve a excellent veteran team who have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from 32 games?
Bring in a group of former professionals who have played at the top level of club football and global soccer as you aim for further trophies.
One Greater Manchester team has an amateur veterans team with 9 former Premier League players in their current lineup.
222 Premier League Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps
Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.
Their squad list this campaign boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 elite matches.
This star-studded roster also boasts 222 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.
They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in over 100 appearances for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.
He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match against defending title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period triple.
Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes ex- pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have secured fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer fees of around £123m.
Household Names and International Stars
Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate 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.
Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.
"A friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.
"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Blue shirts - I say this is wrong for me!
"When 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 a day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with organisation of course."
Such is the strength in depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.
"That's a bit different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.
"I tell my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.
"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
Dreamlike' Scenario
Along with the forward's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.
The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of +19.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.
He has appeared at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in as well as featuring in over 200 top-flight games.
"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.
"I think I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got 60-odd England caps.
"Our side competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.
"Our group literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the journey home.
"The opponents were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.
"Now we are eager for the return fixture."
'We'll Still Take the Title'
Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship last season, along with Paul Maguire.
"Our team went 1-0 ahead and had a