Discover the Weekend League Team Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Games
How can you boost a stellar veteran side who have claimed back-to-back championships, including a league-cup double with thirty victories from thirty-two games?
Bring in a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest level of club and international soccer as you aim for more silverware.
A Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with nine ex- top-flight players in their current squad.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Caps
The team Vets Over 35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Top Tier.
The roster this season features 9 ex- Premier League footballers, with a combined over 1,800 Premier League appearances.
The star-studded roster also contains over 220 top division goals and over 320 international caps.
They feature Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in 2012.
Cisse made his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a half-hour first-half hat-trick.
The squad for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen significant honors and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.
Well-Known Figures and International Players
Ireland began turning out for the team during pre-season this summer through close mate and current team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to join in.
Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 top-flight matches for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also had his debut against the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.
"A mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.
"After that he told me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton kits - I say this is strange for me!
"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?
"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's moment if they see us playing there and to ask us questions - it's more like the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with structure of course."
Such is the squad depth at the club, he had his first game at full-back.
"It's a little unusual but then, I enjoy sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.
"The running is what I'm after. It's enjoyable."
'Surreal Scenario
In addition to Cisse's 6 scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one match up front.
The team are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from three and a goal difference of +19.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his young son who Heskey was.
He has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games.
"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.
"I think I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got 60-odd England appearances.
"We competed well for a good twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.
"Our group literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was calling my mother and brother on the journey home.
"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like playing a bunch of normal guys.
"Now we can't wait for the return fixture."
'We'll Still Win the Title'
The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who won the Top Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.
"We went one-nil ahead and had a