I scored a 'crazy' Newcastle goal and now play in incredible secret kickabout with a £10 forfeit

From a distance, it looks like any other kickabout that takes place up and down the country. Move a little closer, however, and you realise there are title winners, former internationals and a host of individuals who commanded eight-figure transfer fees in their day all playing on an unremarkable pitch in this secret location in Cheshire.

Among those who have strutted their stuff in these 10-a-side clashes are Papiss Cisse, Joleon Lescott, Antonio Valencia, Danny Simpson, John O'Shea, Danny Drinkwater, Stephen Ireland, Nedum Onuoha, Ravel Morrison, Wes Morgan, Dale Stephens, Emile Heskey and Oumar Niasse. There are no points at stake these days, of course, but these competitors' will to win is as strong as ever; none of them want to pay the £10 losers' forfeit that goes towards renting the venue for an hour.

"Everyone wants to win the game," Cisse told ChronicleLive. "It's like proper football. Sometimes you would think we still have contracts. It's a friendly but this mentality comes from when you have been a professional. You have this in your blood. You don't want to lose."

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The standard is such that these weekly games have even helped Cisse keep sharp alongside his individual training sessions. You see Cisse may be 38, but the veteran has not retired. Not yet, anyway.

Cisse has vowed to only stop when 'my body is finished' and the poacher has not yet reached that point after scoring a respectable 13 goals last season for French side Amiens. "I'm going to jump somewhere soon," he vowed. "I know I can continue to play."

Having sampled life in France, England, Germany, Turkey, China and, of course, his native Senegal, you suspect there is another adventure around the corner for this free agent. A rare spell out of the game has at least given Cisse a little more time than usual to keep an eye on his beloved Newcastle and watch a 'proper striker' like Alexander Isak take flight.

"I'm so happy to see how the club has changed," he said. "I'm even seeing it on the television. People are speaking about the club around the world.

"I was so pleased for the fans to see the club in the Champions League because they deserved to have those nights back. I was a Newcastle player and now I'm a fan. I love this club and the people. I always say I'm a Geordie boy.

"When I bought my sons the shirts, they asked, 'Dad, we're Newcastle fans now?' I said, 'I'm a Newcastle fan and I'm your dad. You have to be Geordie boys as well.'"

That lasting connection should not come as a surprise. Not only did Cisse enjoy some of the finest moments of his career at Newcastle, including that 'crazy' second goal against Chelsea, which still serves as his 'passport' and follows him 'wherever he works in the world'. The Magpies' former number nine also found a 'brother' in the late Cheick Tiote.

"It's still so hard to speak about him, but it's a pleasure, too, because he was my brother and we spent great times together," he said. "I'm always praying for him and his family. It's not easy, but that's life. You have to continue to move on.

"He was a great man and a good dad as well. An amazing person. A very hard worker. He taught me a lot of things. We became family."

Cisse, like Tiote, has never lost touch with his roots and the man who drove ambulances in his homeland before turning professional has launched his own foundation with his wife, Awa, to build on the couple's charity work over the years. It feels timely; around 1.4 million people in Senegal are affected by hunger and the rapidly escalating effects of climate change.

Sadio Mane, Moussa Sissoko, Idrissa Gueye and Altay Bayindir are among those former team-mates due to attend a fundraising dinner in Manchester next month to raise additional funds and the foundation hope the proceeds from the event will help install solar-powered water panels; provide agricultural skills training in Sedhiou and Matam; and support the charity's orphan sponsorship programme across Senegal.

"I can never forget where I've come from," Cisse added. "I spent half of my life in Africa and half in Europe, but Africa is my foundation. It's my home. Senegal taught me everything in life.

"I see people there having hard moments. If I can even give one per cent, it's a pleasure because I know they need it because I was there before and I know what's going on. I can never forget home. When I go back, I feel like I've never left."

For more information on the foundation and the fundraising dinner at the Hilton Deansgate on May 6, please visit https://cissefoundation.org.