On May 27, 2020, with Europe still in the grip of a pandemic and travel fraught with danger and difficulty, James Weir climbed into his car in Preston and set the sat nav for Ziar nad Hronom, Slovakia.
Weir was departing the north west to relaunch his football career in a town of just 18,000 people at a club fighting to avoid relegation from Slovakia's top division, the Fortuna Liga.
He had signed for FK Pohronie in early March, just as the Covid-19 pandemic was sweeping across Europe. He managed a couple of weeks of training but with games called off the season was halted and Weir dashed back to the UK before the borders were closed.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk