Introduce the Weekend Division Team Boasting Nearly Two Thousand Top-Flight Appearances
What do you improve a stellar experienced team who have won consecutive championships, including a double triumph boasting 30 victories from 32 games?
Recruit a collection of ex- pro players who have played at the highest level of club football and global soccer as you pursue further honors.
A Manchester team has an amateur veterans team with nine former top-flight players in their active lineup.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps
Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Division.
Their lineup this season boasts nine ex- top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 elite appearances.
This high-profile squad also includes over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international caps.
They include one forward, who netted thirty-seven goals in over 100 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.
He had his first appearance 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 win - including a half-hour first-half hat-trick.
The squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 significant honors and moved for total transfer fees of about £123 million.
Famous Figures and Global Players
Stephen Ireland started turning out for the side in pre-season this season through good mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.
Former Senegalese forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.
"My mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.
"Then he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton kits - I thought this is strange for me!
"When you still love football and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?
"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."
Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his first game at full-back.
"It's a bit different but then, I enjoy running and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I tell my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"That running is what I'm after. It's good fun."
Unreal Experience
In addition to the forward's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a hat-trick in one match as a striker.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.
One opponent, 38, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - 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 200 Premier League games.
"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League players," said the player.
"I felt I was a little starstruck facing him to be honest.
"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English appearances.
"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.
"We really haven't ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the journey home.
"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of normal guys.
"Now we are eager for the second match."
'We'll Still Take the Title'
The manager coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Division championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.
"We scored 1-0 ahead and had a