Discover this Sunday League Club With 1,800 English Top Division Appearances
What do you improve a stellar experienced squad that have claimed back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 victories from 32 matches?
Recruit a collection of former pro players that have performed at the elite tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional trophies.
One Greater Manchester team has an non-professional veterans team with 9 former Premier League footballers in their current squad.
222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps
The team Veterans Over 35s are situated in south the city and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Tier.
Their squad list this campaign features nine ex- Premier League footballers, with a total 1,801 Premier League appearances.
The star-studded roster also boasts over 220 top division scores and over 320 global caps.
The squad feature one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after signing for them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.
He made his debut for the team in their last home-field game against defending champions their rivals and netted all six scores in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's team for this season also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the ex- top-flight players have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for total transfer sums of about £123m.
Household Figures and International Stars
Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.
Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight matches for Everton and even now attends their home games, also made his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are located in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.
"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.
"After that he informed me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is wrong for me!
"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?
"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they see us competing there and to ask us questions - it's really about the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."
Such is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his first game at defender.
"That's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"The running is what I'm after. It's good fun."
Dreamlike' Scenario
Along with Cisse's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.
The team are top of the Top Tier with three victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.
One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.
"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked Barrow.
"I felt I was a bit awestruck playing against him to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.
"Our side competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.
"Our group really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.
"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of normal fellas.
"Now we can't wait for the return match."
'We'll Still Win the League'
Andy Kirby manages the opposition vets side, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.
"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a