Introduce the Sunday Division Club Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances
What can you enhance a stellar veteran squad who have secured back-to-back championships, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games?
Bring in a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the elite level of club and global soccer as you pursue additional silverware.
One Greater Manchester club fields an non-professional veterans squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances
Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.
Their roster this season boasts nine former Premier League players, with a total 1,801 elite matches.
The high-profile squad also includes over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international caps.
The squad include one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in January 2012.
He had his debut for the team in their most recent home match against reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a half-hour first-half triple.
Wythenshawe's roster for this season also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 significant trophies and moved for total transfer fees of approximately £123m.
Famous Figures and Global Stars
Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through close mate and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.
Ex- Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.
"My mate Stephen told me 'come and have a game, it's good fun'," commented Niasse.
"Then he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them sporting Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!
"If you still love football and you know you can still play, wherever you can play, what are you going to choose?
"Those spectators who turn up and see are pleased and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."
So great is the strength in depth at the club, he had his first game at defender.
"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he said.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.
"The running is what I'm after. It's good fun."
'Surreal Scenario
Along with the forward's 6 goals on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.
The team are leading of the Premier Tier with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.
One opponent, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old son who Heskey was.
Figueroa has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in more than 200 Premier League matches.
"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said the player.
"I think I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has over 60 English caps.
"Our side competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.
"We literally haven't ceased chatting about it - I was calling my mother and sibling on the way home.
"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a group of regular guys.
"Now we are eager for the return match."
'We'll Still Win the League'
The manager coaches the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier championship last season, along with his co-manager.
"Our team scored 1-0 ahead and had a