Meet the Weekend League Club Featuring Over 1,800 English Top Division Matches

How do you boost a stellar veteran team who have claimed consecutive championships, including a league-cup double boasting 30 wins from thirty-two games?

Sign a raft of ex- pro players who have performed at the elite level of club and international soccer as you target additional honors.

A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional veterans team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

The team Vets Over 35s are situated in southern the city and compete in the Cheshire Vets League Premier Division.

The squad list this season includes 9 ex- top-flight players, with a combined over 1,800 elite appearances.

The elite roster also boasts over 220 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

They feature one forward, who notched thirty-seven goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after signing for them for nine million pounds from German league club Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field game against defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six scores in a six-two victory - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The team for this season also includes ex- professionals such as English and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC winger George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the former top-flight footballers have won 15 significant honors and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Ireland started playing for the team during preseason this summer through good mate and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted twelve goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in the city and wear an Everton training kit as their uniform.

"A mate Stephen Ireland told me 'come and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"If you still love the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who turn up and watch are pleased and to make a moment if they see us competing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the pleasure of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

So great is the strength in depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse had his debut at full-back.

"That's a little different but then, I love sprinting and just move inside - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

"That movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

Unreal Experience

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are top of the Top Division with 3 victories from 3 and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his nine-year-old son who Emile Heskey was.

He has appeared at two World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League matches.

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

"I felt I was a little starstruck facing him to be honest.

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

"Our side competed well for a solid twenty mins but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"We really haven't stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

"The opponents were all dead sound, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a group of regular fellas.

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

We Will Still Win the Title'

The manager coaches the Collegiate vets team, who secured the Top Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a