Meet this Sunday League Squad With 1,800 English Top Division Appearances
How do you boost a excellent veteran team who have secured consecutive championships, including a double triumph with 30 victories from thirty-two matches?
Bring in a group of former pro players that have played at the highest level of club and global football as you target additional silverware.
One Manchester team boasts an amateur veterans team with nine ex- Premier League players in their present squad.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 Global Caps
The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.
Their squad list this season boasts 9 former top-flight players, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.
The high-profile team also boasts 222 top division goals and over 320 global appearances.
They feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.
He made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game against reigning champions their rivals and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.
The roster for this season also features ex- professionals such as English and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.
Well-Known Names and Global Stars
Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this season through close friend and current team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Irish midfielder then asked additional ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to participate.
Ex- Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.
"My friend Stephen Ireland told me 'come 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 noticed them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!
"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?
"Those fans who come and see are pleased and to give someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having 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 bit unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting 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.
"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's enjoyable."
Unreal Experience
In addition to Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a goal difference of plus nineteen.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Emile Heskey was.
He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over two hundred Premier League matches.
"It was spreading like a rumor they had all these ex-Premier League players," remarked Barrow.
"I felt I was a little starstruck playing against him to be honest.
"Even Heskey came on and he's has over 60 English appearances.
"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.
"We literally haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.
"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a group of regular guys.
"Now we are eager for the return match."
'We'll Still Take the League'
The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.
"We went 1-0 ahead and had a