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How can you improve a excellent experienced side that have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty wins from thirty-two games?

Recruit a group of ex- professionals that have performed at the elite tier of club football and international soccer as you pursue more trophies.

A Manchester side has an amateur vets squad with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their active lineup.

222 Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over 35s are situated in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.

The roster this season boasts nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective 1,801 top-flight appearances.

This star-studded roster also includes over 220 Premier League scores and 325 global appearances.

The squad include Papiss Cisse, who scored thirty-seven goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his first appearance for the team in their most recent home game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a 6-2 victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

The roster for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this season through close friend and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited additional ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegal striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

"A friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented the striker.

"Then he informed me we were playing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Blue kits - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still enjoy the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who turn up and see are happy and to give a day if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at defender.

"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to Cisse's six goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored eight in 3 appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one match as a striker.

Wythenshawe are top of the Premier Division with 3 wins from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in more than 200 top-flight games.

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

"I felt I was a bit starstruck playing against him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England appearances.

"We competed well for a good 20 minutes but then we had a man sent off and it was hard.

"We literally haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a group of regular guys.

"Now we can't wait for the return match."

We Will Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the opposition veterans side, who secured the Premier Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil ahead and had a