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How do you improve a outstanding veteran side who have claimed back-to-back titles, including a league-cup double with 30 wins from 32 matches?

Recruit a group of ex- professionals who have competed at the top tier of club and international football as you target further silverware.

A Manchester team fields an amateur vets squad with nine ex- Premier League players in their current squad.

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

The team Vets Over 35s are located in south Manchester and compete in the Cheshire Veterans League Premier Tier.

The roster this season boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective nearly 1,800 Premier League appearances.

This star-studded team also includes 222 top division scores and 325 global caps.

They feature Papiss Cisse, who netted 37 scores in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for nine million pounds from German league club SC Freiburg in January 2012.

Cisse made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home game versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and scored every one of the six scores in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

Wythenshawe's squad for this season also includes ex- pros such as England and Anfield forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Toffees striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight footballers have claimed fifteen major honors and transferred for total transfer fees of about £123m.

Household Names and International Stars

Stephen Ireland started playing for the team in pre-season this season through close mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side match, to participate.

Former Senegalese striker Oumar Niasse, who netted twelve goals in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and even now attends their home games, also had his first appearance against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their uniform.

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

"Then he informed me we were facing a side from Liverpool and the shock I had when I noticed them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

"If you still love football and you know you can still do it, anywhere you can play, what are you going to choose?

"The people who come and see are pleased and to make a moment if they see us playing there and to pose us questions - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

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

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

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

'Surreal Experience

In addition to the forward's 6 scores on debut, Stephen Ireland has scored 8 in 3 appearances for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a triple in one game up front.

The team are top of the Premier Division with 3 victories from three and a GD of +19.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Latics defender Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 global tournaments for his country, in addition to featuring in over 200 top-flight games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight stars," remarked the player.

"I felt I was a bit awestruck facing him to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] got on and he's got over 60 England caps.

"We held our own for a solid 20 mins but then we had a player dismissed and it was hard.

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

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

"Now we are eager for the return fixture."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby coaches the Collegiate vets side, who won the Top Division championship last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went one-nil ahead and had a