Discover this Sunday Division Club Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches
How do you improve a excellent veteran team that have claimed consecutive championships, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 games?
Recruit a group of ex- professionals who have performed at the elite level of club and global football as you aim for additional honors.
A Manchester side boasts an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their current lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 International Caps
The team Vets Over-35s are based in southern the city and play in the Cheshire Veterans League Top Division.
The roster this season boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a total nearly 1,800 Premier League matches.
This star-studded squad also boasts 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.
The squad feature one forward, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.
Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their last home game versus reigning title holders their rivals and scored all six goals in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have won 15 major trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.
Famous Names and International Players
Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this summer through good mate and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.
Ex- Senegal striker Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for the Toffees and even now goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Blue training kit as their strip.
"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's good fun'," commented the striker.
"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought this is strange for me!
"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?
"The spectators who come and see are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us competing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."
Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.
"It's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.
"The movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."
'Surreal Scenario
In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at 2 global tournaments for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 Premier League matches.
"The news was spreading like a rumor they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.
"I felt I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.
"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.
"Our group literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling 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 match."
'We'll Still Win the League'
Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Premier Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.
"We went one-nil up and had a