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What can you improve a stellar veteran team that have claimed back-to-back championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting 30 victories from 32 games?

Sign a collection of ex- pro players who have competed at the elite level of club and international football as you aim for further trophies.

A Greater Manchester team boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine former top-flight footballers in their current squad.

Two Hundred Twenty-Two Top Division Goals, 325 International Caps

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

The squad list this campaign boasts 9 former Premier League footballers, with a total over 1,800 Premier League games.

This star-studded team also contains 222 Premier League scores and 325 international appearances.

The squad feature Papiss Cisse, who scored 37 goals in 117 games for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league side Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for Wythenshawe in their last home-field game versus defending champions Collegiate Old Boys and scored all six scores in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute first-half hat-trick.

The roster for this campaign also features former pros such as English and Liverpool forward Emile Heskey, Hull and Burnley winger George Boyd, Everton striker Oumar Niasse, Wigan Athletic full-back Maynor Figueroa, Manchester City pair Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and top-flight championship winners Joleon Lescott and Danny Drinkwater.

Together, the ex- Premier League footballers have won 15 major honors and moved for total transfer sums of approximately £123m.

Well-Known Figures and International Stars

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during pre-season this season through close mate and present Wythenshawe teammate Blake Norton, and the ex- Irish player then invited additional former professionals, who all play in a midweek small-sided game, to join in.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who scored 12 goals in 65 Premier League matches for Everton and still goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also made his first appearance versus the opposition - who are based in Liverpool and wear an Everton training kit as their strip.

"My mate Stephen Ireland said 'come and play, it's a laugh'," commented Niasse.

"After that he informed me we were playing a side from the city and the surprise I had when I saw them sporting Everton shirts - I thought this is strange for me!

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still do it, wherever you can kick a ball, what are you going to choose?

"The fans who turn up and watch are happy and to make someone's moment if they watch us playing there and to ask us queries - it's really about the joy of us getting somewhere we can play, with organisation of course."

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

"That's a bit unusual but then, I love sprinting and just go forward - I'm not defending that much," he said.

"I warn my defender 'I'm not staying' and that I'm just going to keep running.

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

Dreamlike' Feeling

In addition to the forward's six scores on debut, Ireland has scored 8 in 3 games for the side, while Boyd hit 5 on his debut appearance and Lescott, a defender by position, scored a hat-trick in one game as a striker.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for Collegiate OB, faced ex- Wigan full-back Figueroa on the weekend - and had to explain his nine-year-old boy who Heskey was.

He has appeared at two global tournaments for his country, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League games.

"The news was spreading like wildfire they had all these former top-flight players," remarked Barrow.

"I think I was a little starstruck playing against Figueroa to be honest.

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

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

"Our group really have not stopped chatting about it - I was phoning my mum and sibling on the way home.

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

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

'We'll Still Take the Title'

Andy Kirby manages the opposition veterans side, who won the Premier Tier title the previous campaign, along with his co-manager.

"We went 1-0 up and had a