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What do you boost a stellar veteran team who have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph boasting 30 wins from 32 games?

Bring in a collection of ex- pro players who have played at the elite level of club and international soccer as you pursue more honors.

A Manchester side fields an non-professional vets team with 9 ex- Premier League players in their active squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, 325 International Caps

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Veterans Division Premier Tier.

Their lineup this campaign features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight appearances.

The elite roster also includes 222 top division goals and over 320 global caps.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga club Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse had his debut for the team in their most recent home-field game against defending champions their rivals and scored every one of the six goals in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also includes former pros such as England and Anfield striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley winger George Boyd, Toffees forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- top-flight footballers have secured fifteen significant trophies and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Players

Stephen Ireland began playing for the team during preseason this season through close mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker 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 first appearance against the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

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

"When you still enjoy football and you know you can still play, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

Such is the bench strength at the club, he made his first game at full-back.

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue attacking.

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

Unreal Feeling

Along with Cisse's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored eight in three games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd scored five on his first appearance and Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

The team are top of the Top Tier with three wins from three and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over two hundred top-flight matches.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," said the player.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's got over 60 English caps.

"We competed well for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was hard.

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.

"They were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the game - it was like facing a bunch of regular fellas.

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate veterans side, who won the Top Tier title last season, along with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a