Meet the Weekend League Club With Nearly Two Thousand English Top Division Matches
How can you improve a outstanding veteran side who have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 matches?
Recruit a collection of former pro players that have played at the elite tier of club and global soccer as you pursue more trophies.
A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight footballers in their current lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances
Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.
The roster this season boasts 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League games.
The elite roster also contains 222 top division scores and over 320 international appearances.
They include one forward, who scored thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders their rivals and netted all six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half triple.
The squad for this campaign also includes ex- professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the former top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen major honors and moved for combined transfer fees of around £123m.
Well-Known Names and International Stars
Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team in pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to participate.
Former Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 Premier League games for the Toffees and still goes to their home games, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Everton training kit as their strip.
"A friend Stephen said 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.
"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!
"When you still love the game and you feel you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?
"Those spectators who turn up and watch are happy and to make a day if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."
So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.
"That's a little different but then, I enjoy sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.
"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.
"The running is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."
Dreamlike' Experience
In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.
The team are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.
Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young boy who Heskey was.
He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 top-flight matches.
"It was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.
"I felt I was a little awestruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 England appearances.
"We competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.
"Our group really have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum and brother on the journey home.
"They were all really nice, 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 Will Still Win the League'
The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.
"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a