Meet the Sunday Division Team Boasting Over 1,800 Premier League Matches

What do you improve a outstanding veteran team who have claimed consecutive championships, featuring a league-cup double boasting thirty victories from 32 games?

Bring in a group of ex- professionals that have played at the highest tier of club and international soccer as you aim for further silverware.

A Manchester side boasts an amateur veterans squad with nine ex- Premier League footballers in their current lineup.

222 Premier League Goals, Three Hundred Twenty-Five Global Caps

The team Veterans Over-35s are located in south Manchester and play in the Cheshire Vets Division Top Tier.

The squad list this campaign features nine ex- Premier League players, with a collective over 1,800 top-flight games.

The high-profile roster also boasts 222 Premier League scores and 325 global caps.

They include one forward, who notched 37 goals in 117 appearances for Newcastle United after joining them for £9m from German league club SC Freiburg in 2012.

He made his debut for the team in their last home-field game versus reigning champions Collegiate Old Boys and netted all six goals in a six-two victory - featuring a 32-minute opening period hat-trick.

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

In total, the ex- Premier League footballers have claimed fifteen big trophies and transferred for combined transfer fees of about £123m.

Famous Names and Global Stars

Stephen Ireland started turning out for the team during preseason this season through good friend and present Wythenshawe player Blake Norton, and the former Republic of Ireland midfielder then asked other former professionals, who all compete in a weekly small-sided match, to participate.

Ex- Senegalese striker Niasse, who netted 12 goals in 65 Premier League games for Everton and even now goes to their matches at Goodison Park, also had his debut versus the opposition - who are located in the city and use an Everton warm-up gear as their strip.

"A friend Stephen Ireland told me 'join and have a game, it's enjoyable'," said Niasse.

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

"If you still enjoy the game and you know you can still play, anywhere you can play, what are you going to do?

"Those fans who come and see are pleased and to make someone's moment if they see us competing there and to pose us queries - it's really about the joy of us having a place we can play, with organisation of course."

Such is the squad depth at Wythenshawe, Niasse made his first game at defender.

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

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

"That movement is what I'm seeking. It's good fun."

'Surreal Experience

Along with the forward's 6 goals on his first game, Ireland has scored eight in 3 games for the side, while George Boyd scored five on his first match and Lescott, a centre-half by trade, notched a triple in one game up front.

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

Paul Barrow, 38, who plays on the wing for the opposition, faced ex- Wigan defender Maynor Figueroa on Sunday - and had to explain his young boy who Emile Heskey was.

He has played at two World Cups for Honduras, in as well as playing in over 200 Premier League matches.

"The news was going round like a rumor they had these former top-flight players," remarked the player.

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

"Even Heskey came on and he's got over 60 English appearances.

"We competed well for a good twenty minutes but then we had a player sent off and it was tough.

"We really have not stopped talking about it - I was phoning my mother and brother on the way home.

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

"Now we are eager for the return match."

'We'll Still Take the Title'

The manager manages the Collegiate veterans team, who secured the Premier Division title last season, together with Paul Maguire.

"We went 1-0 ahead and had a