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What do you enhance a stellar veteran squad who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double with thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Bring in a group of former professionals that have competed at the top tier of club and international football as you target additional silverware.

A Greater Manchester club has an non-professional vets team with nine ex- top-flight footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances

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

Their roster this campaign boasts nine former top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 elite matches.

The high-profile team also contains 222 Premier League goals and over 320 global appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.

He had his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home match versus defending title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a 6-2 victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The squad for this season also features former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and Premier League championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the former Premier League footballers have won 15 major trophies and moved for combined transfer sums of about £123m.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this summer through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the former Irish player then asked other ex-pros, who all compete in a midweek small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for Everton and still attends their matches at Goodison Park, also made his debut versus the opposition - who are based in the city and use an Blue training kit as their uniform.

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

"Then he told me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still love the game and you feel you can still play, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?

"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to give someone's day if they see us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting a place we can play, with structure of course."

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

"That's a little 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.

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's six goals on his first game, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three games for the side, while George Boyd scored 5 on his first match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by position, notched a triple in one match as a striker.

The team are top of the Top Tier with 3 wins from 3 and a GD of +19.

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the flank for the opposition, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 top-flight matches.

"The news was spreading like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

"I think I was a little awestruck facing him to be honest.

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

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

"Our group really haven't ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

"They were all really nice, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Win the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 up and had a