Manchopper

Groundhopper/Blogger, who enjoys a drink or two...or eight. (80*/92)

Latest Ground: Foley Meir (551)
IG:manchopperblog

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Manchopper in...Greenfield

My visit way back when for this Cymru Amateur Cup tie, as @Greenfieldfc took on @CPDYFelin1977 in the 1st Round:
https://t.co/ulbHf6ZlWs

An initial tech-induced delay became a long break...which was needed. I wasn't writing well. Feedback welcomed!

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Had an enjoyable (if slightly damp) little trip down the line to take in @MSBWOOLTONFC 0-2 @RemycaUtd in the @nwcfl League Cup 2nd Round.

Considering the conditions, both sides served up a watchable game. Fair play to both sets of players. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague

[Voices of WW2 @VoicesofWW2]

In 1941, a Spaniard walked into the British embassy in Madrid and offered to spy on the Nazis.

The British turned him down.

So he went to the Germans instead, pretended to be a loyal fascist, and got hired as a German spy. His plan was to lie to them for the rest of the war.

It worked better than anyone could have imagined.

His name was Juan Pujol García. Before the war he had tried his hand at running a chicken farm and a movie theater. He had no spy training. What he had was a deep hatred of both fascism and communism after the Spanish Civil War, and an incredible imagination.

The Germans gave him a codename, invisible ink, money, and orders to go to Britain and recruit spies.

He didn't go to Britain.

He went to Lisbon, Portugal, and made everything up.

Using a tourist guidebook, maps, magazines, newsreels, and a British railway timetable from the library, he wrote long, detailed reports about life in England. Military movements. Morale. Ports.

He'd never been there. He made mistakes. He didn't understand British money. He once reported that dockworkers in Glasgow would do anything for a liter of wine.

The Germans loved him anyway.

Then British codebreakers reading German messages noticed something strange. The Germans were hunting for a convoy that didn't exist, based on a report from some agent in Britain they'd never heard of.

The British went looking for this mystery spy. They found Pujol. In 1942 they finally took him on and brought him to London.

Now he had real help. MI5 gave him the codename Garbo, after the actress, because they thought he was the greatest actor in the world.

Together with his British handler, Pujol built a fake spy network for the Germans. It eventually had 27 imaginary agents. Each had a name, a personality, a job, and a backstory. A Welsh nationalist. A Venezuelan student. A Greek sailor. Some of them recruited their own imaginary sub-agents.

When they needed to explain why one agent had gone quiet, they killed him off. They even put a fake obituary in a Liverpool newspaper. The Germans reportedly paid a pension to his widow.

Who also didn't exist.

Then came D-Day.

Hours before the landings, the British let Pujol send a message warning the Germans that the invasion was coming in Normandy. It was timed so it would arrive too late to matter, but it made him look brilliant.

Three days later he sent the most important message of his career. Normandy was a trick, he said. The real invasion was still coming, at Calais, led by a huge army under General Patton.

That army was fake too. But the Germans believed him.

German forces that could have been rushed to Normandy were held back near Calais for weeks, waiting for an attack that never came.

The Germans were so grateful they awarded him the Iron Cross.

A few months later, King George VI made him a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

He's one of the only people known to have been decorated by both sides of the war.

After the war, afraid of revenge from surviving Nazis, he faked his own death from malaria in Africa and disappeared to Venezuela, where he lived quietly running a shop.

For decades the world thought he was dead.

In 1984, a British writer tracked him down. Pujol came back to Normandy for the 40th anniversary of D-Day and met veterans who had landed on the beaches.

Some of them thanked him.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Already out and about the local, early doors hostelries of Woolton ahead of @MSBWOOLTONFC vs @RemycaUtd in the @nwcfl League Cup.

Hoping for a good (and most importantly, a somewhat dry!) one!

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Nice little trip over the border today to take in #FAWWelshCup action, as @CefnAlbionFC and @CPDYFelin1977 played out an entertaining 2-3 result.

Nice welcome and gesture from the hosts via a chairman's handshake and a cuppa. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Nice little trip over the border today to take in #FAWWelshCup action, as @CefnAlbionFC and @CPDYFelin1977 played out an entertaining 2-3 result.

Nice welcome and gesture from the hosts via a chairman's handshake and a cuppa. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

With little new or cost-effective on the English front, the Welsh side of things pick things up this weekend!

My #FAWWelshCup tie for the day sees me visit long,long-term target @CefnAlbionFC, who welcome @CPDYFelin1977 to The MUGA in the 2nd Round.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

@jimmymcbride1 Sorry to hear this, Jimmy. All the best to you at this time.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Had a good day out today whilst taking in @foley_fc 0-4 @AshbyIvanhoe_FC in the #FAVase 1st Round.

A more competitive tie than the scoreline suggests, but Ivanhoe always had that little bit more about them. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague #football

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

No hatred towards Forest Green themselves, but I need to laugh at this absolute knobhead's misfortune.

(Un)fortunately, when the club stops making him money, he'll be out quicker than a quick thing.

[BBC Gloucestershire @BBCGlos]

BREAKING: Forest Green Rovers Owner/Chairman Dale Vince tells @BBCGlos "there is no managers vacancy at the club". Despite speculation he says he "hasn't spoken to anybody about the role" and "will try without a big ego manager".

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Had a good day out today whilst taking in @foley_fc 0-4 @AshbyIvanhoe_FC in the #FAVase 1st Round.

A more competitive tie than the scoreline suggests, but Ivanhoe always had that little bit more about them. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague #football

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

@MattLostBoyo Oh, really?! Was still plain old El Tomillar when I went! Worth a visit though, for sure, mate.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

@MattLostBoyo I'd certainly say to do it, they still follow me to this day, since I went there 12 years ago. I believe Isco started his career there too.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Managed to navigate the railway madness today and make it to Meir, via the small area of Foley, for @foley_fc vs @AshbyIvanhoe_FC in the #FAVase 1st Round.

New ground to start the long road from 550 to 600.

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Fully enjoyable trip out today whilst taking in @FCTrafford 2-2 @ACFC1916 in the #FACup 3rd Qualifying Round.

No definitive record achieved for either club, but both are still in the hat. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

Fully enjoyable trip out today whilst taking in @FCTrafford 2-2 @ACFC1916 in the #FACup 3rd Qualifying Round.

No definitive record achieved for either club, but both are still in the hat. #groundhopper #groundhopping #nonleague

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

@ReviewNonLeague Just across from me and my neck of the woods today, mate. Enjoy it, not made it back to Valley Road for this iteration just yet.

[Maine Road FC @MaineRoadFC]

We’ve seen the posts. We’ve read the comments. 👀

A little bit of our history and a reason to come and see us.

Don’t forget PL & EFL season ticket holders get FREE entry with valid photo ID.

Come and find the Road.

#MaineRoadFC #UpTheRoad #NWCFL

[Andy Mitten @AndyMitten]

Welcome to Flixton the club in the shadow of Manchester United.
@flixtonfcx ceased to exist in 2012, the ground was up for sale. Houses rather than football activity were expected….then the club was reborn.

For @TheAthleticFC

https://t.co/6AvEGkEGJH

[Manchopper @ManchopperBlog]

After a couple of lengthy trips, I'm staying closer to home to be a bit more easy on the pocket and also to see who out of @FCTrafford and @ACFC1916 can make a bit of club history and progress a step closer to the #FACup 1st Round, down at Shawe View.

Looking forward to it!