Paul Merson came out of retirement to play for Welsh fourth-tier team Caerau, making his debut in last night’s meeting against Pontyclun, but saw a lighting failure lead to the abandonment of the fixture.

Merson made his first appearance for the Welsh side on Wednesday, playing 65 minutes of the game against Pontyclun FC before the match was abandoned due to a floodlight failure. The 49-year-old came off to a standing ovation, according to the Mirror.

The former Gunner seemed please to be back on the pitch, and told Sky Sports: “If I can keep on playing, I will play.”

Caerau were 3-2 up before the match eventually had to be called off, so it was going pretty well for Merson until the technical difficulties. He even played a small part in one of the goals, playing in a free-kick that eventually led to the Caerau centre-forward finding the net:

Arsène Wenger didn’t seem interested in Merson’s return when asked last week, joking in his pre-Watford press conference that they were there to speak about professional football.

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Merson made 423 appearances for Arsenal during his time in North London, scoring 99 goals in all competitions. But his final start for the Gunners was over 20 years ago. He did play under Arsène Wenger for one season, but then left for relegated Middlesbrough, as they’d offered him a longer contract.