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How do you enhance a stellar veteran squad that have won back-to-back championships, featuring a double triumph with thirty wins from 32 games?

Recruit a group of former professionals that have performed at the top tier of club and international football as you aim for further honors.

A Greater Manchester team fields an non-professional vets squad with 9 ex- top-flight players in their active lineup.

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

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are situated in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Veterans Division Top Tier.

The roster this campaign features 9 former top-flight footballers, with a total 1,801 top-flight matches.

This high-profile team also includes over 220 top division goals and over 320 international appearances.

The squad feature one forward, who netted 37 goals in over 100 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side SC Freiburg in 2012.

He had his debut for the team in their most recent home game against reigning champions their rivals and netted every one of the six scores in a six-two win - including a half-hour first-half triple.

The squad for this campaign also includes former professionals such as English and Anfield striker 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 winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Collectively, the ex- top-flight players have secured fifteen major trophies and transferred for combined transfer sums of about £123 million.

Household Names and Global Players

Stephen Ireland began turning out for the team during preseason this season through good mate and present team teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided game, to participate.

Ex- Senegal forward Niasse, who netted 12 scores in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and even now attends their matches at Goodison Park, also had his first appearance versus the opposition - who are located in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their strip.

"My friend Stephen Ireland said 'come and have a game, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"Then he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the shock I had when I noticed them sporting Blue kits - I say this is wrong 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 choose?

"The fans who come and watch are pleased and to give a moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's more like the pleasure of us getting somewhere we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

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

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he added.

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

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

Dreamlike' Scenario

In addition to the forward's 6 goals on debut, Stephen Ireland has netted eight in three games for the side, while Boyd hit five on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Top Tier with 3 victories from 3 and a goal difference of plus nineteen.

Paul Barrow, 38, who features on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Latics full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to tell his young son who Emile Heskey was.

Figueroa has appeared at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in as well as featuring in more than 200 top-flight matches.

"It was spreading like wildfire they had all these ex-Premier League stars," said the player.

"I felt I was a little awestruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

"Even Emile [Heskey] came on and he's has 60-odd England caps.

"We held our own for a solid twenty minutes but then we had a player dismissed and it was tough.

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

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

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

We Will Still Win the League'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans side, who secured the Premier Tier championship the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"Our team scored one-nil ahead and had a