The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

Lee Wingate and Paul Watson
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The Sweeper - A World Football Podcast

Welcome to The Sweeper, the world football podcast made in association with FIFA+. Join Lee Wingate and Paul Watson every second Wednesday as they bring you the best headlines from across the football world and tell you the stories that you won't hear elsewhere. Audio editing: Ralph Foster & Tom MiddlerGraphic design: The Gentlemen Creatives Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 12 HR AGO

    Ascension Island’s tortoise troubles, Omonia’s fan-paid groceries & Lazio’s live-in falconer

    There’s an island theme in Part 1. Starting with the return of football to Ascension Island, an isolated outpost in the Atlantic Ocean. It will be the second-most remote place to host football in the world – but what is the first?! Next up is Malta, where the only team in the pyramid from the neighbouring island of Gozo has made a 100% start to the season and the top flight has adopted a Latin American-style format. Our final stop in this segment is Cyprus, where Omonia Nicosia are preparing to face their breakaway rivals Omonia 29M.   Part 2 contains a selection of great stories from across the European continent. There are shocks in France and Portugal as top-flight teams are dumped out of the cup by amateur opponents. Lazio have sacked their falconer for posting inappropriate pictures online, but he is reportedly refusing to leave their Formello training ground – where he has lived for the past 15 years! And finally, the bizarre tale of North Korea’s short-lived friendly against Kosovan club SC Gjilani – and perhaps the craziest pre-match graphic that has ever been made! Check out our new Patreon, which will go live on 1 February 2025   Listen to Cypriot football podcast 'This is Mappa'   RUNNING ORDER:   00:00 – Intro 01:21 – Ascension Island’s tortoise troubles 11:00 – Gozitans off to flying start in Malta 18:01 – Omonia Nicosia’s breakaway rivals 28:17 – Amateur cupsets across the continent 35:45 – The bizarre tale of Lazio’s falconer 41:03 – North Korea’s short-lived friendly 49:39 – The Sweeper's revamped Patreon   Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min

  2. 7 JAN

    Balzers’ Internet fame, the world’s newest league & The Strongest’s Chocolate Party

    This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: ⁠www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper⁠ The Sweeper is back for the first episode of 2025 to round up all the world football headlines from over the Christmas and New Year period. Starting in Europe, where Balzers of Liechtenstein have gone from 1,000 to 400,000 Instagram followers almost overnight – but how have they achieved their stratospheric growth? In Portugal, Nacional’s Madeiran mist has wrought havoc yet again and Oliveirense have used milk to mark the goal-lines in the absence of paint. Finally, in Italy, we take a deep dive into the wonderful world of Serie C.   In the rest of the world, there are teething problems for the world’s newest top-flight league in the world’s newest country: South Sudan. In Bolivia, national giants The Strongest have resorted to an unusual measure to raise money for children in San Pedro prison in La Paz and the relegation/promotion play-off has come to the most dramatic of conclusions. And there’s a similar story over in Indonesia, where controversy reigns supreme after PSM Makassar missed the memo that the 12th man is supposed to be the fans and fielded an extra player.   For a bonus episode on Wednesday 15 January and plenty of other extra content, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod.   RUNNING ORDER 00:00 – Intro 02:02 – Balzers’ instant Internet fame 07:02 – Cult clubs and countries 08:54 – Madeiran mist & mainland milk 15:40 – The wonderful world of Serie C 25:55 – A Chocolate Party and a play-off 31:45 – Favourite sounding football fixtures 36:07 – The newest league on the planet 44:42 – A 12th man – but not the fans Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min

  3. 24/12/2024

    Víkingur’s 13-month season, Vitória’s crazy Kazakh away day & a Career We Go quiz

    Part 1 is all about the drama of the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland and Ireland have their first-ever representatives in a European knockout stage, Portugal’s Vitoria de Guimaraes set a new continental away day record, Omonia’s "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" coach is sacked & the reserves of English giants Chelsea run riot. To help us review the action, we have a panel of experts from across Europe: Andy Brassell from On The Continent in the UK, Hinrik Wöhler from Vísir in Iceland & Massimo Solari of Corriere del Ticino in Switzerland.   In Part 2, Lee and Paul have their world football knowledge put to the test by Joe McAuliffe of the excellent Career We Go football trivia podcast. Finally, we review our favourite stories, topics and trips of 2024 – from the Marítimo-Nacional derby on the island of Madeira to San Marino’s first win in 20 years over Liechtenstein in the UEFA Nations League – and look ahead to our plans for 2025. Finally, a big thank you from us to our editors, partners, collaborators, listeners and patrons. We wish you a happy Christmas & all the best for the new year! Remember that if you don't want to wait until 8 January for your next dose of Sweeper goodness, you can sign up to our Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod and listen to our bonus podcast on New Year's Day. Becoming a member of our Patreon means you are supporting our independent journalism and getting access to a load of great content, such as bonus episodes, blogs, a weekly World Football Newsletter, access to our Discord server and entry into our football shirt giveaways. There are no contracts, no sign-up fees, no minimum stays and no advertisements. Watch back our UEFA Conference League final matchday watch-along on ⁠X⁠ or ⁠Facebook⁠. RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 02:45 – Shamrock Rovers with Andy Brassell 08:06 – Conference League or Nations League? 10:26 – Víkingur Reykjavík with Hinrik Wöhler 14:38 – A trigger-happy Bosnian club president 17:50 – Lugano with Massimo Solari 23:44 – Crazy European away day records 27:25 – World football trivia with Career We Go 46:34 – Our best stories, matches & trips of 2024 Please leave us a rating or review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It means a great deal to us and will make it easier for other potential listeners to discover our show. Thanks for your support! Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min

  4. 10/12/2024

    Georgia’s bodyguard cup winners, Danish snowball fights & a smuggled skull in Paraguay

    This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper   Gift a Patreon subscription for Christmas: www.patreon.com/SweeperPod/gift   Part 1 is all about the biggest domestic cup shocks and upsets across the globe, starting with Spaeri. But does their association with a government entity make it less of a fairytale triumph for the fast-rising second-tier Georgians? The focus then turns to other lower-league cup triumphs in 2024, including Senegal, where the final set an almost unbelievable all-time record. The segment concludes with our stand-out cupsets of the season in Spain, Austria, Norway and Denmark, where two top-flight teams have been hit with an expensive fine for a snowball fight.   Up next in Part 2 is a whistlestop tour of the globe, with five stories from five continents. In Europe, Serie D outfit Piacenza race through three coaches in one day, while a passionate fan tries to smuggle his grandfather’s skull into a continental final in South America. A striker hoping to face Cristiano Ronaldo in the Asian Champions League joins the wrong Esteghlal in Iran, TP Mazembe get stuck at the airport for two nights ahead of an African Champions League tie and Central American Cup winners Alajuelense want a place at the FIFA Club World Cup.   For bonus episodes, extra blog posts, weekly World Football Newsletters, sneak peaks at our agenda, football shirt giveaways and access to our magnificent Discord community, join us on Patreon at patreon.com/SweeperPod for a fiver a month and support our independent journalism. There are no contracts, no sign-up fees, no minimum stays and no advertisements. The next bonus episode – featuring our favourite stories from the 2024 calendar year – will be released on Wednesday 18 December.   RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 00:39 – A Spaeri-tale Georgian Cup triumph 06:17 – Senegal’s lower-league final 09:53 – Cupsets across the continent 17:12 – An expensive Danish snowball fight 20:28 – Africa: TP Mazembe’s airport disaster 24:28 – Europe: Piacenza’s mental 24 hours 28:51 – South America: A smuggled skull in Paraguay 31:50 – Asia: A transfer to the wrong Esteghlal 35:13 – North & Central America: Alajuelense’s CWC claim 37:46 – The 2024 Intercontinental Cup on FIFA+ Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    47 min

  5. 26/11/2024

    A SAN MARINO PROMOTION, Hispaniola at the Gold Cup & Coupe de France controversy

    This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: www.tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper There was only ever going to be one starting point for our international coverage in Part 1: San Marino’s historic promotion to UEFA Nations League C! But how do we think they will fare and who do we want to see them face? Up next is the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, the home of Haiti & Dominican Republic – both of whom have qualified for the 2025 Gold Cup. But which other examples of shared island qualification for a major tournament are there? Finally in Part 1, we tell you all about Kitmas – a brilliant initiative started by our own Paul Watson. The focus switches to club football in Part 2 as we put the Coupe de France and the participating overseas territories under the microscope. How did US Avranches fare after their 16,000 kilometre trip to Tahiti? And why are USSA Vertou in limbo at the airport ahead of their trip to Réunion? We then finish the episode with the curious case of Seventh Day Adventist Silvan Wallner – and other religious retirements from football – before examining the outsiders and underdogs at the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. Don’t want to wait another fortnight for your next dose of Sweeper goodness? Then join us for a bonus episode on 4 December, in which we will be discussing – amongst other things – a mad 24 hours involving three different head coaches at Italian Serie D side Piacenza and the thrilling conclusion to the Georgian title race, with the horrendously renamed Iberia 1999 in pole position. Simply sign up at www.patreon.com/SweeperPod and get a whole host of other perks such as weekly newsletters, bonus blogs and access to our chat community on Discord. Gift a Patreon subscription for Christmas: www.patreon.com/SweeperPod/gift Make a Kitmas donation or contribution: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/kitmas-2024 Leo Honig’s Substack newsletter: substack.com/@footballshapedRUNNING ORDER:00:00 – Intro02:17 – San Marino’s historic promotion11:53 – Hispaniola’s Gold Cup qualification18:32 – Kitmas 2024 & Christmas Patreon gifts26:03 – Coupe de France controversies34:34 – Silvan Wallner & religious retirements40:48 – FIFA+: The FIFA Club World Cup draw Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min

  6. 12/11/2024

    Balkan groundhopping, River Plate’s potent paint & Como’s war on Monza

    In Part 1 of this bonus Patreon episode, which we have released in the absence of a fresh podcast on this occasion, the Sweeper team are joined by Tom Middler and Simon Clark – Lee's co-hosts on his other podcast, 'The Other Bundesliga' – to talk about their groundhopping trip to Slovenia & Croatia. Which UEFA Conference League match did they watch? Who plays in Slovenia's 'metal derby'? And why is there a garden shed in Croatia's largest stadium? Join us to find out! The theme in Part 2 is sh*thousery and the dark arts. What bizarre measure did River Plate resort to for their Copa Libertadores semi-final against Atlético Mineiro? Why are Como using local buses in what has been described as a declaration of war on regional rivals Monza? And how did the AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifier between Australia and Indonesia descend into farce? Plus, a bonus question: How many footballs can Paul and Lee carry? If you like the bonus podcast, you can listen to them every fortnight – on the Wednesdays between our usual episodes – by signing up at patreon.com/SweeperPod. You can also enter our giveaways, read our weekly World Football Newsletter and our bonus blogs, and join our chat community on Discord, where hundreds of patrons are discussing world football on a daily basis. The show is also largely self-funded, so Patreon contributions are a great way to support our journalism! RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 - Intro 01:54 - Giantkillings & Kiribati fan accounts 08:18 - A scorpion save in Slovenia 14:52 - Metal-themed football clubs 19:57 - Ultras & garden sheds in Croatia 29:47 - River Plate's potent paint 35:51 - Como's declaration of war on Monza 40:59 - AFC U17 Asian Cup controversy 43:30 - How many footballs can we carry? Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    46 min

  7. 29/10/2024

    Montenegro’s mass collapse, Sweden’s perfect runners-up & Auckland’s A-League debut

    This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper   Click here to buy the November issue of World Soccer: https://shop.kelsey.co.uk/single-issue/world-soccer-magazine   In Part 1, the focus is on the club game in the continent The Sweeper calls home: Europe. Why did the entire Njegoš team simultaneously collapse in the Montenegrin third division? And was there any truth to the plutonium poisoning allegations? How did Ängelholms in the fourth tier of Swedish women’s football miss out on the title despite not conceding a goal? And what bizarre record did their goalkeeper end the season with? And why did Breiðablik fans stage a break-in ahead of their final-day title-decider with Víkingur Reykjavík in Iceland?   Part 2 contains a selection of stories from Africa, Asia, Central America and Oceania. Why has a second club from New Zealand, Auckland FC, joined Australia’s A-League? And why will their upcoming match against Wellington Phoenix be unique in world football? What has led TP Mazembe in DR Congo to play Nigerian goalkeeper Suleman Shaibu in attack? How did Wolues of the British Virgin Islands come to have a misspelling in their name? And how are the two clubs from war-torn Sudan playing 5,000km away in Mauritania getting on?   If you don’t want to wait until 13 November for our next episode, join us on Patreon for our bonus episodes in the in-between weeks. Simply sign up at patreon.com/SweeperPod and join us for a special pod on 6 November. We will be joined by some special guests to talk about their recent groundhops in Slovenia and Croatia, before rounding up some other stories from Russia, Uzbekistan and Eritrea. Patrons also get access to our Discord chat community, bonus blogs, weekly newsletters and entry into our shirt giveaways too.   RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 00:43 – Montenegro’s mass collapse 07:24 – Sweden’s perfect runners-up 11:54 – Iceland’s final-day title decider 16:12 – Other summer league tales 21:03 – Kiwi club’s debut in the A-League 29:28 – An attacking keeper in DR Congo 34:14 – The Sweeper Super Sunday on FIFA+ 41:15 – First Vienna game with a patron Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min

  8. 15/10/2024

    Bhutanese monk ultras, a golden era for micro-states & the Southgate of the Solomons

    This episode is brought to you in association with FIFA+. Click here to get your free FIFA+ account and watch live football around the world: tinyurl.com/FIFAPlusSweeper   In Part 1, we take a look at one of the world’s most remote footballing outposts with Faraway Football blogger Matthew Eide, who has just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Bhutan courtesy of football kit designers Icarus. Which footballing figure flew the plane that transported him from Kathmandu to Paro? How did a 10-goal thriller have more drama after the final whistle than in the game itself? Which endangered species are Thimphu City fighting to help save? And how could YOU join the Overseas Board of a football club in Asia?   Part 2 is dedicated to the best stories from the international game in the October window. Why was oxygen being provided on the sidelines at Bolivia’s World Cup qualifier against Colombia? Who holds the longest ongoing winless run in international football now that Liechtenstein and Andorra have both won? Why did Turkmenistan’s government deny their national football team permission to travel to Malta? And for what unusual reason did the Turks & Caicos goalkeeper miss the CONCACAF Nations League clash with Anguilla?   If you don’t want to wait another fortnight for our next episode, join us on Patreon for our bonus podcasts in the in-between weeks at patreon.com/SweeperPod. The next patron-only episode will hit the airwaves on Wednesday 23 October. Subscribers can also read our bonus blog about our trip to Lugano, join several hundred other patrons on our Discord chat community, enter our regular shirt giveaway contests and get a sneak preview of each podcast on the weekend before it is released. Follow Matthew Eide’s Faraway Football account: Twitter: x.com/FarAwayFootball Instagram: Instagram.com/farawayfootball RUNNING ORDER: 00:00 – Intro 00:31 – Lee & Paul’s travel disasters 02:57 – A groundhop to beautiful Bhutan 18:24 – FIFA+: South America & Oceania 26:58 – A golden era for Europe's micro-states 34:57 – Country vs. club in Turkmenistan 38:36 – Poolside viewing in the Caribbean Editor: Ralph Foster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
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About

Welcome to The Sweeper, the world football podcast made in association with FIFA+. Join Lee Wingate and Paul Watson every second Wednesday as they bring you the best headlines from across the football world and tell you the stories that you won't hear elsewhere. Audio editing: Ralph Foster & Tom MiddlerGraphic design: The Gentlemen Creatives Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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