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What do you improve a stellar veteran squad that have secured consecutive championships, including a league-cup double with thirty victories from 32 games?

Recruit a raft of ex- professionals who have competed at the highest tier of club football and global soccer as you aim for additional honors.

A Greater Manchester team has an non-professional vets team with nine former Premier League footballers in their current roster.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Scores, 325 International Appearances

Wythenshawe Vets Over 35s are based in southern Manchester and play in the Cheshire-based Vets League Premier Division.

The lineup this season includes 9 former Premier League footballers, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight games.

This star-studded roster also contains over 220 Premier League goals and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who notched 37 goals in over 100 appearances for Newcastle United after moving to them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his first appearance for Wythenshawe in their most recent home-field match versus reigning title holders Collegiate Old Boys and netted every one of the six goals in a 6-2 win - including a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

The team for this season also includes former professionals such as England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Hull City and Burnley midfielder George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight title victors Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

In total, the ex- top-flight footballers have won fifteen significant trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of around £123m.

Household Figures and Global Stars

Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close friend and present team player Blake Norton, and the ex- Republic of Ireland player then invited other ex-pros, who all play in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Former Senegal forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight games for the Toffees and still attends their home games, also made his debut against the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and use an Blue warm-up gear as their uniform.

"My mate Stephen said 'join and play, it's good fun'," said Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from Liverpool and the shock I had when I saw them wearing Everton shirts - I say this is strange for me!

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

"Those fans who come and see are happy and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us questions - it's more like the joy of us getting a place we can enjoy football, with organisation of course."

So great is the bench strength at Wythenshawe, he made his debut at defender.

"That's a little different but then, I enjoy running and just move forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I tell my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep attacking.

"The movement is what I'm looking for. It's good fun."

'Surreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six goals on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for Wythenshawe, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a centre-half by trade, scored a hat-trick in one game up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Tier with three victories from three and a goal difference of +19.

One opponent, 38, who features on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Latics defender Maynor Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has played at 2 World Cups for Honduras, in addition to playing in over 200 top-flight games.

"It was going round like a rumor they had these ex-Premier League players," remarked the player.

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

"Also Heskey got on and he's has 60-odd English appearances.

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

"Our group literally have not ceased chatting about it - I was phoning my mother and sibling on the journey home.

"The opponents were all friendly, shaking our hands after the game - it was like playing a bunch of regular guys.

"Now we are eager for the second match."

'We'll Still Take the League'

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

"Our team scored one-nil up and had a