Meet the Weekend League Club With Over 1,800 Premier League Games
What do you boost a stellar experienced side who have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?
Bring in a group of ex- pro players that have performed at the top tier of club and global football as you target further silverware.
One Greater Manchester side has an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League footballers in their active squad.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Scores, 325 Global Appearances
Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.
The roster this season includes 9 ex- top-flight players, with a total 1,801 Premier League matches.
The star-studded team also contains over 220 top division scores and 325 global appearances.
The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home match against reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six goals in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.
Wythenshawe's squad for this campaign also includes former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
In total, the ex- Premier League players have claimed 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer fees of about £123m.
Well-Known Names and Global Stars
Stephen Ireland started playing for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.
Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their home games, also made his first appearance versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.
"My mate Stephen said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.
"Then he told me we were facing a side from the city and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I say this is strange for me!
"When you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?
"Those fans who turn up and see are happy and to give a day if they watch us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with structure of course."
Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at full-back.
"That's a little unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go 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."
Unreal Scenario
In addition to the forward's 6 scores on his first game, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.
Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young boy who Emile Heskey was.
He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than two hundred Premier League matches.
"The news was going round like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," said Barrow.
"I felt I was a little starstruck facing Figueroa to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.
"We held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.
"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and brother on the journey home.
"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal fellas.
"Now we are eager for the return match."
'We'll Still Win the Title'
Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.
"We went one-nil up and had a