Introduce the Weekend Division Squad With 1,800 Top-Flight Appearances

How can you enhance a excellent veteran squad who have secured consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty victories from 32 games?

Recruit a group of ex- professionals who have played at the highest tier of club football and international football as you aim for more honors.

One Greater Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with 9 ex- Premier League players in their current squad.

222 Premier League Scores, 325 Global Caps

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are located in southern Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets Division Premier Tier.

The roster this season features nine former Premier League players, with a combined nearly 1,800 top-flight games.

The star-studded roster also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in over 100 games for Newcastle United after signing for them for £9m from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their last home game against defending champions their rivals and netted all six goals in a six-two win - including a 32-minute opening period triple.

The squad for this campaign also features ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former top-flight players have secured fifteen big honors and moved for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Famous Figures and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse, who scored 12 scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'join and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Blue shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those people who turn up and watch are happy and to give someone's day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, he had his debut at full-back.

"It's a bit different but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not staying back that much," he added.

"I warn my centre-back 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep running.

"The movement is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."

Dreamlike' Scenario

Along with Cisse's six scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit five on his debut match and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are leading of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced former Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight stars," said Barrow.

"I think I was a bit awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Also Heskey got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

"Our side held our own for a solid twenty mins but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really have not stopped talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the return match."

We Will Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Premier Tier title last season, together with his co-manager.

"We scored 1-0 up and had a