Discover this Sunday League Club Featuring Over 1,800 Premier League Matches
How can you boost a excellent veteran squad that have secured back-to-back titles, including a double triumph boasting thirty victories from thirty-two games?
Recruit a group of former pro players who have competed at the top level of club football and global football as you aim for further silverware.
One Greater Manchester team boasts an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their active roster.
Two Hundred Twenty-Two Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Appearances
The team Vets Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.
The squad list this season boasts nine ex- top-flight players, with a total over 1,800 top-flight games.
This elite squad also boasts over 220 Premier League scores and over 320 international appearances.
They feature one forward, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for his former club after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in January 2012.
He made his debut for the team in their last home-field match against reigning title holders their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two victory - including a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.
The squad for this campaign also features former pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton forward Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City duo Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.
Collectively, the ex- Premier League players have secured fifteen big trophies and transferred for total transfer fees of approximately £123 million.
Well-Known Figures and Global Players
Stephen Ireland began turning out for the side during pre-season this season through good mate and current Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited other former professionals, who all compete in a midweek small-sided match, to join in.
Former Senegal striker Niasse, who netted twelve scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their home games, also had his debut versus Collegiate OB - who are based in the city and wear an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.
"My friend Stephen told me 'join and play, it's enjoyable'," said the striker.
"Then he told me we were playing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!
"When you still love the game and you feel you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to do?
"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make someone's day if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."
Such is the strength in depth at the club, Niasse made his first game at full-back.
"It's a bit unusual but then, I enjoy running and just go inside - I'm not staying back that much," he added.
"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.
"The running is what I'm looking for. It's enjoyable."
Dreamlike' Experience
In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted 8 in three appearances for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by position, scored a triple in one game up front.
Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Division with three victories from three and a GD of plus nineteen.
Paul Barrow, thirty-eight, who plays on the flank for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics defender Figueroa on Sunday - and had to tell his young son who Heskey was.
Figueroa has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.
"The news was spreading like wildfire they had these ex-Premier League stars," said Barrow.
"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.
"Also Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England appearances.
"We competed well for a good 20 mins but then we had a man sent off and it was tough.
"We literally have not ceased talking about it - I was calling my mum and sibling on the journey home.
"They were all friendly, shaking our hands after the match - it was like facing a bunch of normal fellas.
"Now we are eager for the return fixture."
We Will Still Take the League'
The manager manages the opposition vets side, who won the Top Tier championship the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.
"Our team scored one-nil up and had a