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How do you boost a excellent veteran team who have claimed consecutive titles, including a double triumph with thirty victories from thirty-two matches?

Recruit a collection of former pro players who have played at the highest level of club and global soccer as you aim for additional trophies.

One Manchester club fields an non-professional vets squad with nine former Premier League footballers in their current squad.

222 Top Division Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five International Appearances

Wythenshawe Veterans Over-35s are based in south the city and compete in the Cheshire-based Vets Division Premier Tier.

The roster this campaign features nine former Premier League players, with a combined 1,801 Premier League games.

The star-studded team also includes 222 Premier League scores and over 320 global appearances.

They include one forward, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for his former club after joining them for £9m from Bundesliga side Freiburg in January 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their most recent home game versus defending champions their rivals and netted every one of the six goals in a six-two win - featuring a 32-minute first-half triple.

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

Together, the former top-flight footballers have won fifteen big trophies and transferred for total transfer sums of approximately £123 million.

Household Names and Global Stars

Ireland started playing for the side during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish midfielder then invited additional ex-pros, who all play in a midweek nine-a-side game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese forward Niasse, who scored twelve scores in sixty-five top-flight matches for the Toffees and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance against Collegiate OB - who are located in Liverpool and wear an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

"My mate Stephen told me 'come and play, it's enjoyable'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were facing a team from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Blue kits - I thought 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 choose?

"The fans who turn up and see are pleased and to make a day if they watch us playing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

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

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

"I warn my defender 'I'm not hanging back' and that I'm just going to continue running.

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

Unreal Scenario

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has netted 8 in three games for Wythenshawe, while George Boyd hit 5 on his debut match and Joleon Lescott, a defender by position, notched a hat-trick in one match up front.

Wythenshawe are leading of the Premier Division with three wins from 3 and a GD of plus nineteen.

One opponent, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, came up against former Latics full-back Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young son who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in addition to featuring in more than 200 Premier League games.

"It was going round like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

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

"Also Emile [Heskey] got on and he's has over 60 English caps.

"We held our own for a solid 20 minutes but then we had a man dismissed and it was tough.

"We really haven't stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mum 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 fixture."

'We'll Still Take the League'

The manager manages the opposition vets team, who won the Top Division title the previous campaign, along with Paul Maguire.

"We scored one-nil up and had a