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What do you improve a stellar veteran side who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty wins from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a raft of former professionals that have competed at the highest tier of club and global football as you target additional silverware.

A Manchester side has an non-professional veterans team with nine former Premier League footballers in their present squad.

222 Top Division Goals, 325 Global Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Veterans League Top Division.

Their squad list this campaign boasts 9 ex- Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 elite games.

This star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted thirty-seven scores in 117 games for his former club after signing for them for nine million pounds from Bundesliga side Freiburg in 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a 32-minute first-half triple.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes former professionals such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley FC midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan full-back Maynor Figueroa, City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- Premier League players have secured 15 major honors and moved for combined transfer sums of around £123 million.

Household Figures and Global Players

Ireland began playing for the side in pre-season this season through close friend and current Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then asked additional former professionals, who all compete in a midweek nine-a-side match, to join in.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 goals in sixty-five Premier League games for Everton and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

"My mate Stephen told me 'join and play, it's a laugh'," said the striker.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from Liverpool and the surprise I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is wrong for me!

"When you still love the game and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to give a moment if they see us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can enjoy football, with structure of course."

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

"It's a bit different but then, I love running and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

'Surreal Scenario

Along with Cisse's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has netted eight in 3 appearances for the side, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by trade, scored a triple in one game as a striker.

The team are leading of the Premier Tier with 3 wins from three and a goal difference of +19.

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

Figueroa has played at two World Cups for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was going round like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League players," said the player.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's has 60-odd English caps.

"Our side held our own for a good 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

"We really have not ceased talking about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Win the League'

The manager manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, together with his co-manager.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a