Introduce the Sunday Division Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Matches
How do you boost a stellar experienced side that have secured consecutive championships, featuring a double triumph boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?
Sign a raft of ex- pro players that have played at the elite level of club and international soccer as you pursue more silverware.
One Manchester side boasts an amateur vets squad with 9 former top-flight footballers in their active lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances
The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.
Their lineup this campaign includes 9 ex- top-flight footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 top-flight matches.
This high-profile team also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.
They include Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's team for this campaign also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the former Premier League players have claimed fifteen significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.
Household Names and Global Players
Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.
Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who scored 12 scores in 65 top-flight matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.
"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.
"After that he told me we were playing 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 feel you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?
"The fans who come and see are happy and to give a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."
So great is the bench strength at the club, he had his debut at defender.
"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.
"The running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."
Dreamlike' Experience
In addition to Cisse's six scores on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.
"It was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," remarked the player.
"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against him to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 England appearances.
"We held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.
"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.
"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.
"Now we can't wait for the return match."
'We'll Still Win the Title'
Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Division championship the previous campaign, together with Paul Maguire.
"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a